Google Failed to Understand Facebook's Success with Google+

Google wanted in on the social networking game by launching Google+. They hoped to build a strong and vast community like Facebook. Steve Yegge, Google staff software engineer, has said that Google has failed to understand how to make Google+ a successful platform. That takes some balls for a Google worker to publicly criticize the company’s approach on the platform. Then again, he did a whole rant against Amazon.

“Google+ is a prime example of our complete failure to understand platforms from the very highest levels of executive leadership down to the very lowest leaf workers,” Yegge wrote. “We all don’t get it.”

At least Yegge is being honest. And it’s good to see that Google isn’t taking it down. Yegge wasn’t so nice when he was talking about Amazon, the online store giant. He continues on to explain why Facebook was successful.

“Google+ is a knee-jerk reaction, a study in short-term thinking, predicated on the incorrect notion that Facebook is successful because they built a great product. But that’s not why they are successful,” Yegge continued.

“Facebook is successful because they built an entire constellation of products by allowing other people to do the work. So Facebook is different for everyone. Some people spend all their time on Mafia Wars. Some spend all their time on Farmville.”

In the end, it’s not about trying to make something that the people want, but it’s about offering the people a chance to explore something they want. Does that make sense?

“Our Google+ team took a look at the aftermarket and said: ‘Gosh, it looks like we need some games. Let’s go contract someone to, um, write some games for us.’ Do you begin to see how incredibly wrong that thinking is now? The problem is that we are trying to predict what people want and deliver it for them.”

“Ask anyone who worked on platformising MS Office. Or anyone who worked on platformising Amazon… I’m not saying it’s too late for us, but the longer we wait, the closer we get to being Too Late.”

Source: Steve Yegge’s Google+