Google is Still Not THE GOD-Part II

Now coming to the part, Countries and Cultures it Operates?

For sure i can answer w.r.t India. The question becomes more meaningful for a country like India with diverse culture.

I personally feel, from the business point of view Google is lagging behind in the race when compared to Yahoo and Microsoft. In fact I would say Google is not giving due importance that should be given to India.

Recently Microsoft organized an event called TechXchange2007 showcasing important innovations, technologies and products showcasing 50 demos by it's Hyderabad development center and bangalore research center.(Hyderabad is the largest development center outside US).

They do file more number of patents and MS top brass makes statements that Indian research and development centers are more important and critical to them.

Does Google's Indian center's contribute much to google's product line? Can it boast that they are critical and rate of innovation is on par with the Googleplex in california? ( Note: they claim the hiring is stringent across all centers. Nah i havent applied for any technical openings :-)) Is Indian center being seen as indispensable by the Google top brass?

How many high profile visits have been made by Google top brass to India? The top brass visit is not just to woo the government and the public fan fare that surrounds it. It does sends a message to the employees that you are just important to us as the head quarters. We are watching you closely and an eye is over you. We are having high expectations on you and make sure you deliver it. It sure pumps up the energy among the lower ranks.

Google was so keen to be the exclusive ad provider for AOL in Europe. Is Google so keen on such tie ups with the India based web sites or at least for the recently launched aol.in.

Yahoo is very keen on launching , penetrating and expanding and it's presence in the Indian Internet market. Or at least their PR is good in projecting such image in the media. (Isn't today's business is all about perception?)

How many products does Google tests in the diverse Indian market?

In how many Indian languages, Google products and services are available when compared to the Microsoft's product offering in Indian languages?

So I would rather conclude that Google is not a so powerful brand as it could be in India.