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04.03.09 Google May Be Investing In Twitter  By Robert ScobleYes, Twitter is in talks to be sold by Google, but is that the worst thing that would happen to Twitter? No, even though it's funny to note that designer Douglas Bowman just left Google a week ago to go to work for Twitter (and did so with a public "I'm pissed and I'm leaving" letter - I guess he'll be asked to clean toilets for a few weeks if he gets bought back into Google). Remember, Google is the company that bought Jaiku and then did nothing with it. It's the company that bought Dodgeball (a company that had a service very similar to Twitter that was out before Twitter). And did nothing with it (the founders of that company also wrote a "we're leaving" letter to Google.) Are you noticing a trend here yet? Google sucks at microblogging/social networking and I don't believe that Google has actually changed at all. The best predictor of future results is past behavior. So, if Twitter goes to Google there's a great chance that it'll be screwed up. But, there's something even worse awaiting it: if Twitter gets purchased by Microsoft. Or worse, Adobe or Oracle or IBM. Why? These companies understand even less of what's going on in the social networking space than Google does. At least Google is trying and failing. But Google makes great mobile apps and Google understands how to scale things that need scale. I can also see how Google would integrate Twitter search into its search pages.
Microsoft, on the other hand, doesn't deserve to get Twitter. Microsoft has totally screwed up its online branding and search. It's pretty incompetent in those areas and has been for years. Yeah, I know that Microsoft has thousands of employees who'll call me names on their blogs and yeah I know that Microsoft has thousands of fans, er, MVPs, who'll tell you at length why I'm wrong. But when I go around SXSW or Gnomedex or Northern Voice and ask people what they use from Microsoft I get blank stares. Microsoft has lost the Internet generation because they simply have not done anything interesting. Spending another $100 million on advertising is not going to change that. Heck, they should stop the advertising, use the $100 million to get Twitter's attention and buy it. But that's what Microsoft would do if it had real Internet leadership that understood just how important Twitter's search feature will be to getting Microsoft noticed in the search game. Here: what will work better to get more people to feel good about Microsoft? Spending $100 million on TV ads? Or using that money to buy Twitter? No brainer for me. But here's the problem: I don't believe Microsoft wants to get the Internet. So, if Microsoft DID wake up and buy Twitter it would be a horrid place for Twitter to be. It would stagnate even worse there than it would at Google. Which is why, even though I don't like Twitter's management team that much, I'm hoping that they sell to Google instead of Microsoft. At least then it has a chance of success, Google's poor track record in this area notwithstanding. Comments About the Author: Robert Scoble is the founder of the Scobleizer blog. He works as PodTech.net's Vice President of Media Development. |
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