Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know [Paperback]

Randall Stross (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 22, 2009

"In this spellbinding behind-the-scenes look, Stross leads readers through Google’s evolution…the unfolding narrative reads like a suspense novel" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Based on unprecedented access to the "Googleplex," Planet Google goes deep inside the company to unveil the extraordinary scope and scale of its ambition to become the master gate-keeper of "all the world’s information," including its users’ most personal information. New York Times columnist Randall Stross provides a lively tour through Google’s flurry of new information gathering initiatives. Will Google stay true to its famous "Don’t Be Evil" mantra? Will it protect all of the personal information it collects? Planet Google is a much-needed wake-up call about how powerful the Google juggernaut has become.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this spellbinding behind-the-scenes look at Google, New York Times columnist Stross (The Microsoft Way) provides an intimate portrait of the company's massively ambitious aim to organize the world's information. Drawing on extensive interviews with top management and his astonishingly open access to the famed Googleplex, Stross leads readers through Google's evolution from its humble beginnings as the decidedly nonbusiness-oriented brainchild of Stanford Ph.D. students Sergey Brin and Larry Page, through the company's early growing pains and multiple acquisitions, on to its current position as global digital behemoth. Tech lovers will devour the pages of discussion about the Algorithm; business folk will enjoy the accounts of how company after company, including Microsoft and Yahoo, underestimated Google's technology, advertising model and ability to solve problems like scanning library collections; and general readers will find the sheer scale and scope of Google's progress in just a decade astounding. The unfolding narrative of Google's journey reads like a suspense novel. Brin, Page and CEO Eric [Schmidt] battle competitors and struggle to emerge victorious in their quest to index all the information in the world. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Stross, a college business professor who writes the New York Times column “Digital Domain,” conveys how, in its overreaching pursuit of growth, Google continues to offer unprecedented access to information while raising questions about copyright and privacy issues. The goal of Google, founded by two engineering graduate students 10 years ago, is to organize and profit from the entirety of the world’s information. With its self-proclaimed “Don’t Be Evil” corporate mantra, Google also plans on unseating archrival Microsoft as king of the hill by introducing “cloud computing,” whereby the Internet becomes the operating system, software, and storage medium, thereby eliminating the need for software upgrades. Google has made its fortune on the unobtrusive text ads that appear to the right of search results, using a complex, self-evolving system called the Algorithm to both match ads to the search parameters and auction those ads to the highest bidder. As the first outsider to receive unfettered access to Google’s headquarters, top management, and company meetings, Stross has provided the most in-depth look at the company to date. --David Siegfried --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (September 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416546960
• ISBN-13: 978-1416546962
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Overview, Without Much Depth or Storytelling September 29, 2008

By T. Karr VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"Planet Google" is a simple, well-written overview of Google and its business. The book explains how Sergey Brin and Larry Page started Google while they were students at Stanford and made it their mission to organize all of the world's information.

The various chapters in the book relate how and why Google acquired companies such as YouTube and Keyhole. The book explores the opposition and challenges that Google has faced as it has become larger and entered new areas.

I found "Planet Google" to be neither worshipful nor vindictive. It was largely unbiased reporting. The book does not say much about the people or personalities involved. There is not much time spent on anecdotal storytelling. This book is more of a straight-forward review of how Google started, what Google has done, and thoughts about Google's future.

"Planet Google" provides a good overview for someone who does not know much about the company, but does not really provide much depth.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent narration with poor analysis October 13, 2008

By Sreeram Ramakrishnan VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The book's title flatters to deceive. The "audacious plan to organize everything we know" has significant impacts on almost all aspects of our lives and how new IT business models emerge - privacy, accessibility, level playing ground for education, security, etc..; growth of software-as-a-service and service-oriented architecture. Despite these meaty issues that the author's premise would have allowed him to provide an in-depth analysis of the trends and implications, he chooses to provide a superficial narration that reads more like a Businessweek article. To be fair, the author did write a few sentences on the above topics, but only as an introduction to his narration of some of the behind-the-scenes incidents that shaped Google's growth. After various authors have done this before, (more notable example - The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time and The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture), this book breaks relatively new ground for even a casual reader in this space. Nevertheless, the narrations discussing the algorithm itself, and Google's foray into video search and Youtube, travails with Google Answers, email scanning and search, the ambitious book scanning project, and growth pains of Google Maps are entertaining and provides some interesting tidbits. For someone familiar with the search space and avid user of Google, some of these discussions may seem yesterday's news.

Even if it is not, the author misses an opportunity to analyze the fundamental impact Google's 'audacious plan' can have on us. The most glaring omission is Google Health - here is an attempt by Google to develop an ecosystem that stores electronic health records and allows other service providers to tap into this information as and when the owner of the health record permits. The implications of this can be far-reaching and a game changer for how healthcare is viewed in the world, particularly in the U.S. There is perhaps one tangential reference to Google Health in the book.

The book is well narrated, with a sense of urgency that keeps the reader captivated. The notes section of the book is well-organized and provides additional citations and information for the more serious reader (in fact, if some of the information that are now hidden in the notes section had found its way to the main text, the book may have read better). Overall, an entertaining read, but providing no or superficial analysis/insights.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Google is getting as big as a planet October 2, 2008

By M.U.L.F.O.N.A.L

Format:Hardcover

This was a great book. Written in lay mans terms, this book is a macro view of google - from birth pangs to its 10th year birthday.

Google has been a company which has been a source of inspiration and intrigue for the past decade. Like all big firms, it has had its fair share of problems (legal and competition wise) but it is still standing.

The book talks about all the steps Google has taken to follow it initial mantra of getting all the data in the world together and indexed. From youtube to keyhole to its documents software to its news reader, this book briefly talks about all of googles achievements.

This is not a book which talks in depth about the life of google but it does give the reader a glimpse of one of the most innovative and exciting companies in the world.