The (Focused) Future Of Google?

Not all Google products are created equal; some, like Google Catalogs and Google Code, were pretty much doomed from the start. Many onlookers believe that the company will soon start concentrating on its central products, instead of spinning off these strange little odds and ends every few weeks. Nicholas Carr picked the five products most likely to receive this special attention.

Your jaw isn’t likely to drop after viewing his first prediction, but the man’s undoubtedly correct. “Google Search” is at the top of Carr’s list. He’s expanded (and where necessary, renamed) some product definitions, and forecasts that Google will continue to focus on search “for all information types, on all devices, personalized.”

The company’s second product might be called “AdMarket,” according to Carr. He envisions, courtesy of Google, “a unified market place for buyers and sellers, spanning web text, web video, web banners, print, radio, TV.” Again, the prediction seems on-target.

YouTube, which is third on the list, is another no-brainer. (That’s not, by the way, to imply that Carr’s article isn’t impressive – it’s about 1,300 words in length, and he creates a logical argument supported by loads of evidence.)

Numbers four and five on the list are especially interesting, though. Dubbed “YouTools,” the fourth product is “what Apps for Your Domain morphs into, with different tool sets for businesses, families, universities, and hospitals.” In fifth position is “YouFile,” which Carr envisions as “a personal information management service, covering health data, finances, etc.”

Carr’s article is drawing nods of assent from around the blogosphere. If you feel like reading an even more exhaustive analysis of what Google has been, is, and will be up to, Google Watch’s Steve Bryant posted a great “Year in Review” piece.

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