We saw the publication of two lengthy articles this week about Larry Page, who is scheduled to take over as Googlea4ぎa4г chief executive on April 4. After I read them, one big question lingered: What does his takeover mean for Googlea4ぎa4г long-rumored Facebook competitor
It may not mean anything. Google executives have been hinting at this product for a while now, and therea4ぎa4г presumably a large team working on it. So Page may not be any more (or less) involved as CEO than he is in his current role as the companya4ぎa4г president. But this is an ambitious project, reportedly adding social features to many existing Google products, and ita4ぎa4г going to need the support of the companya4ぎa4г CEO. That&'s especially true if the product stumbles out of the gate, as happened with many of Googlea4ぎa4г other social initiatives
Yet social networking doesna4ぎa4д seem to be on Pagea4ぎa4г radar. Writing in Fast Company, Farhad Manjoo notes that Page doesna4ぎa4д have a profile on Facebook or other social sites, and he quotes former Google executive Jason Shellen (now at AOL) as saying, a4ぎAThere&'s an EQ &8212' an emotional intelligence &8212' around social software, and it just might be out of Google&'s reach.a4ぎ
In Wired, meanwhile, Steven Levy portrays Page as someone who follows his intellectual passions, even if they dona4ぎa4д seem to be a great fit for the company. (Apparently Page is behind the companya4ぎa4г recent, baffling effort to build self-driving cars.) Longtime Google executive Marissa Mayer told Levy that the key fact about both Page and Google co-founder Sergey Brin is that they were both educated in Montessori schools, where a4ぎAyou go paint because you have something to express or you just want to do it that afternoon, not because the teacher said so.a4ぎ
Where does social networking fit into those interests Well, ita4ぎa4г noticeably absent from the story. Instead, Levy and the Googlers he interviews return again and again to the theme of information. (The self-driving car is defended with the phrase, a4ぎAThis is all information.&'') Social products don&'t seem to interest Page &8212' Shellen told Manjoo, a4ぎAWith social, therea4ぎa4г nothing for Google to solve.&''
And Page comes off as the exact opposite of the oversharing type who thrives on social networks &8212' for example, he got rid of his personal assistant with the explicit goal of making it harder for employees to meet with him. As Levy puts it:
Like the plane spotters who log the peregrinations of aircraft, Googlers often swap data concerning Pagea4ぎa4г and Brina4ぎa4г ambulatory patterns. Even so, it can sometimes be tricky to catch Page' he is a master of the drive-by greeting, flashing a wide, happy-to-see-you smile while slightly picking up his pace, leaving a potential interlocutor talking to his receding back.
Again, none of this says much about Google&'s social products. But it does suggest that the company will soon be led by a man who doesn&'t want to use them.
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Companies: Google
People: Larry Page
Companies: Google
People: Larry Page
Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
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