Which lead to turf war, and over half the org heads were let go over the past 2 years (Ozzie, Allchin, Allard, Raikes, also Bach and Moore)
Google is now also structured as a tech conglomerate, there aren't many of those. It is something that Microsoft went through 20 years ago (ie. going from a one-product company to something more).
There are many parallels, just hope Google learnt something from the Microsoft experience of structuring and management.
The majority of that is search revenue, so it is booked in the other org. Android books marketplace revenue, which will eventually be a billion dollar business but not yet.
Chrome is also profitable because of search revenue, although I haven't seen a figure anywhere
The difference between GOOG and MSFT in these situations is pretty heavy. Yes, one product is supporting four or five in terms of profits. But there's a key factor that you're missing.
Does uptake in online services increase profit in Office or Windows? Does uptake in Entertainment and Devices increase the profit of Server and Tools? (Tools, perhaps, in terms of IDEs).
The key difference is this: all of GOOG's non-ad products are loss leaders. They increase internet usage - specifically, internet usage on pages that run GOOG ads. As long as their loss leaders increase the profit of their main product, they win.
Investments in Google's side products (email, maps, etc) create a feedback loop, putting more eyeballs in front of their profit machine (ads). They really are in the best position - the more people that use the internet, the more money they make. That's why they're so keen on doing things 'pro bono' - like their fiber initiative, and Android.
Microsoft also did the 'more nimble' thing 6 years ago:
http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Microsoft-announces...
Which lead to turf war, and over half the org heads were let go over the past 2 years (Ozzie, Allchin, Allard, Raikes, also Bach and Moore)
Google is now also structured as a tech conglomerate, there aren't many of those. It is something that Microsoft went through 20 years ago (ie. going from a one-product company to something more).
There are many parallels, just hope Google learnt something from the Microsoft experience of structuring and management.