Their ad business, around which the entire company revolves, is collapsing. Android makes crap for profit. Motorola is a money pit.

Their search engine could be obliterated by a new upstart just as easily as they obliterated Yahoo when they themselves were a new upstart. This could happen at any moment. Hell, perhaps Mayer’s Yahoo will do this.

They’re heading full speed towards an iceberg and who is going to save them? They don’t have a Steve Jobs figure to return and get the company back on track.

What’s going to rescue Google? Wishful thinking?

We will see what happens. All I am saying is that so far, everything that they HAVE done to try to deal with their situation isn’t working, and their approach to mobile (alienating their potential biggest partners) is actually currently doing the opposite.

Do you currently know of some master plan that will “extricate themselves from their diminishing revenue stream”? It doesn’t seem that Google does. If you do, I’m sure that Larry has a very high paying job waiting for you in Mountain View.

I certainly don’t know the future, but so far, they seem hellbent on trying to force their existing business model to work. A few more quarters will better tell the tale.

And mobile? Over 50% of local searches are now done via mobile devices. And it is expected that mobile searches (and this does not necessarily mean Google mobile searches) will outnumber desktop web searches in 2013. Advertisers are discovering that mobile clicks are worth FAR less than the old Web search clicks were – and guess what? Search has gone mobile, in case you hadn’t noticed. Advertisers are not going to pay what they used to pay for search ads on mobile. The economics just don’t work.

GOOG’s core business is at risk now, and their attempted moves to try to capitalize on mobile look as if they may actually backfire, with AAPL kicking them to the curb, and MS may possibly end up in 2nd place in mobile – and you know they are no friend of Google’s.

While I think the 5 year estimate is a bit too soon, I think that in 10 years Google will not be in the position they are in currently unless they can figure out a way to reinvent themselves.

From what I’ve seen, everything “new” that they try is all aimed at trying to make their now faltering business model continue to exist. They will need to truly change their business model to attempt to survive long term. Nothing they have done so far shows that they are willing to do so.

Siri is old news and all Apple is doing is what Samsung is doing with S voice and if Mango 7.5 Windows Phone is any indication as to what Windows Phone 8 will offer, the voice activated space will be crowded. Nuance have been at it for at least a decade.

MSFT knows it, too. That’s why they have hedged their bet with mobile Office (coming soon to an iOS device near you).

Google may own desktop search, but it relies on Windows dominance of the environment (see above).

IPad and Mac computers are eating Windows share for lunch, and we are fast approaching the point where Windows (and all of its derivatives), will be the main course for dinner as well.

I think the development engine that Steve created will prevail, and do it with BEST in class product.

Ummm, that would be the next upgrade of MacOSX.

Not that having a monopoly is an issue of course, but you do have to tread a lot more carefully when you have one, lest others complain you are leveraging your position to lock them out.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/06/business/la-fi-apple-university-20111006

Google is all about the Benjamins, just like M$.

A study by the American Psychological Association reveals the core of the problem, (especially Study 3 (Phase 2): It Takes One to Know One):
http://gagne.homedns.org/~tgagne/contrib/unskilled.html

When those who appoint directors are not competent enough to know what is needed, they are unable to appoint through knowledge and rely instead on qualifications, which are insufficient to guarantee appropriateness.