Twitter: @arthurtyson3
Origins of the “All-Knowing”
Scott Galloway, the author of “The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google,” asserts that Google is our “God.” For Google’s search engine to ascend to a god-like status, it must be anchored on knowledge, trust, and omnipresence. First, Google’s superior search engine accuracy has led internet users to seek “ye” first to obtain knowledge for some of our most pressing questions, which has led to 6 billion search queries per day. Second, Google’s search results are also trustworthy and organic, optimizing impartial and fair search results based on relevancy to the search query. Last, Google is widespread and all-knowing by effectively monitoring our behavior across device (Chromebook), browser (Chrome), mobile operating system (Android) and software services (Google Maps, Gmail, etc.) to anticipate our optimal search needs. By leveraging their ability to anticipate users’ behavior based on search activity, advertisers seek “God’s throne” (search) to anoint them with users that are most interested in their products & services (targeted ads). Therefore, to touch the hem of Google’s search garment comes with “a collection” that proves to be an effective strategy for both advertisers and Google. The “collection” has led to the following revenue in their most recent quarter:
Over the past few years, Google’s advertising business has faced some civic pressures from legislators, and citizens due to their data collection tactics, and investigating how they regulate competing services within search results and on their mobile operating system (Android). With potential regulation on the horizon to address civic concerns, 85% of Google’s revenue (advertising) could be at risk.
Extending “The All-Knowing’s Reach”
Google, to counter the risk to its advertising revenue, aspires to diversify its revenue streams by growing the “Other Bets” revenue category; this category includes hardware sales, subscriptions, Google Cloud and Google Play Store. To grow this category, and counter consumers questioning the healthiness of Google’s data collection tactics to serve ads, Google wants to position it’s brand closer to “God” by leveraging data and information in a benevolent fashion to create intelligent experiences that improve the consumer’s lives. To capture the benevolent sentiment, Google is leveraging its ambient computing capabilities, intelligence and devices, to help reduce consumers’ daily cognitive load by sensing and responding to human presence. In addition, for intelligence to be God-like or “All-Knowing,” it must be omnipresent by extending beyond PC and mobile, but wherever we need it. Finding the intersection of intelligence and omnipresence sits at the core of Google’s ambient computing strategy. Hence, Google strategically wants to accelerate hardware into all aspects of our lives to grow the reach of premium intelligent experiences from 1st and 3rd party cloud software services. Google’s ambient computing strategy was pervasive throughout their most recent hardware launch. During the launch, Google introduced new hardware improvements and formats, paired with the “All-Knowing” (Google Assistant) to permeate all aspects of our human needs to:
All Knowing: Helping us achieve mastery and seek achievement
In 2019, the “thin & light” laptops skyrocketed within the personal computing (PC) industry with well over 80 million devices being shipped; the new laptop format is projected to be the leading PC device by 2023 (per IDC). Consumers desired a lighter device format to meet their mobile needs and affordability challenges; however, consumers had to tradeoff for less powerful devices, which limited their productivity. Google’s new PC device, Pixel Go Chromebook desired to capture the intersection of an affordable light device coupled with productivity power by improving the following personal computing features:
Likewise, Google hopes that the affordable price point will get the device in the hands of as many users. However, with higher processing power, longer battery life, and improved screen size, Pixelbook GO users will be encouraged to use Google’s productivity suite, G Suite, to meet their content creation needs. Upon completing their content creations, Google wants users to save their files into the cloud service, Google One, to analyze our “productivity needs,” this is proven as Google reduced the size of on-device storage capacity by 50%. Thus, to help us focus on mastering tasks to quicken our path to achievement, Google One wants to lighten our cognitive load by automating mundane tasks like organizing files and finding relevant data. To automate this process, Google’s machine learning, Priority, tracks our usage across G suite apps, assesses our collaboration patterns, and monitors comments on documents to determine how files should be organized (Workspaces) and what files we should be prioritizing (Priority Cards).
Google believes these automating features will reduce time in finding files by 50%, which will keep users focused on spending most of their time on valuable work. For users to truly see the benefits of these automating features, they must upload a substantial number of files. These files, then, need to be organized, filtered and arranged. To store these files for “free,” users are only allotted 15GBs of Google One. After hitting this storage threshold, users will have to subscribe to gain access to 100GBs or more of storage at various price points (e.g. $1.99/month for 100GBs or $2.99/month for 200 GBs). After subscribing, users can access the ability to call on the “All-Knowing” to quickly find their most important content creations as quickly as possible. The need for automating content creations and file finding is not only limited to PC users but also smartphone users who would like to save time on creating and storing their fondest “memories.”
All Knowing: Improving our Beauty and Finding Content that brings us Joy
One could argue that the evolution of smartphone cameras has truly democratized content creation for consumers. Users can now quickly capture high quality photos and videos, and distribute them to vast social media networks, which produced the following activity in 2018 (per Nielsen):
- 300M photos uploaded to Facebook every day
- 400K hours of video uploaded to YouTube every day
- 95 million photos uploaded to Instagram
With the ease of publishing content to a large network of people, users desired professional-looking content to improve their reputational value among friends and achieve their highest form of beauty. However, to create professional-looking content, consumers spend on average 50-60 minutes per day editing photos and videos. Thus, it can be argued that Google aspires to reduce the time it takes to edit by automating editing features to help users produce the highest quality media. As a result, Google focused most of the new features for Pixel 4 around improvements to the camera, to increase photo and video quality. Although the Pixel 4 has features such as a 16-megapixel camera, faster refresh rate, and two rear cameras, the most prized features are the new computational photography editing features:
After users capture and edit their photos and video, users desire to store and organize their “memories,” but the average consumer spends on average 10 minutes per day organizing their saved photos and video. To help us save time in organizing our fondest memories, Pixel 4 users can backup their media to Google Photos (cloud storage). Within a user’s cloud storage, Google’s machine learning will scan faces, analyze locations and assess landmarks in media to create folders to help us quickly find photos and videos we enjoy. However, users can no longer upload original photos (highest pixels) to Google Photos for free. Now those photos will count against users Google One free storage limit (15GBs). Hence, if users want to save their memories in the highest quality and have them organized around their fondest moments, users are encouraged to subscribe to Google One Cloud. Users can then call on the “All-Knowing” to access their wedding photos, daughter’s first birthday, or Orlando family vacation.
Users not only want to save time in creating and storing user-generated content but also in finding their favorite professionally produced content (HBO Now, Spotify, etc..) that brings them joy. According to Parks Associate, over two-thirds of US smartphone users stream media daily. Therefore, to attract media enthusiasts, Google enhanced the media consumption experience on the Pixel 4 by improving the visual and audio features:
The high-quality media experience will encourage users to engage with either Google’s suite of content (YouTube Music/ Premier), or third-party content solutions (Netflix, Spotify) via Google Play Store. Before we engage with our favorite media applications, consumers generally spend 20-30 minutes per day searching for content. Google would like to give users that time back, by automating the content search and browse process. Through the Pixel 4, users can summon the “All-Knowing” to make media requests such as, “OK Google, Play Jazz.” However, for users to request personalize content on-demand, such as “OK Google, play Love Jones on Netflix” or “OK Google, play The Game’s, Born 2 Rap album” users will have to subscribe to a 1st or 3rd party on-demand content solutions.
Google not only aspires to be the “navigator” of our productivity, creation, and media consumption needs but also how we efficiently manage our home. Google desires to penetrate more devices into the home to fully unlock the “All-Knowing” to help us safely manage and secure our digital and physical assets.
All Knowing: Simplify securing & managing our digital (Mesh Wi-Fi) and physical assets (Secure Nest)
Google Home has an installed base of 20M smart speakers that can pair with a network of +30,000 smart home devices that includes: TVs, appliances, lights, thermostats, and plugs. Google wants to create a seamless smart home network experience to allow “The All-Knowing” to be omnipresent throughout the home. The omnipresence can be impaired as certain smart home devices are inconsistently online due to dead Wi-Fi spots within the home. To address the dead spots, consumers can purchase Nest Wi-Fi, a mesh Wi-Fi network to extend Wi-Fi coverage throughout the home to ensure all smart devices are online-enabled. However, as intelligence and devices become pervasive throughout the home, parents are becoming concerned about their identity being compromised and their kids spending too much time online. According to Pew Research
- 44% of parents have a fear that their financial data will be compromised
- 57% of parents have set screen time limits in some way
- 65% of parents of teens said they were concerned about their teens’ screen time
First, to pacify parent’s concern around their identity being compromised, the Nest Wi-Fi encrypts the household Wi-Fi so users can browse the internet safely. Plus, users can share passwords with family members without worrying that their data might be compromised. To give parents controls to protect their kids, the Nest Wi-Fi is enabled with voice commands. So, parents can call on the “All-Knowing” to enable or disable their kid’s devices and monitor their screen time. The Nest Wi-Fi also integrates with Google Nest Secure Alarm, Google’s home alarm system, to give users a physical and digital security solution. Paired with the Google Nest Cameras for visual support, Nest Wi-Fi (and the new Nest Mini) has motion and sound sensors to detect unwanted movement and sounds throughout the home. The Google Nest system will send users a push notification of the detected sound. However, if a user is not at home, they cannot gain visibility into the occurrence that has taken place at the home, which creates anxiety. Although to help reduce a consumer’s anxiety, users can call on the “All-Knowing” to display recorded video footage of the occurrence that took place around the home during the triggered motion, or sound to immediately give user’s a peace of mind. For users to access recorded video, they must subscribe to Nest Aware, in which users can record 30 days of video for $6 per month, or 60 days for $12 per month.
The All-Knowing Drives “The Other Bets” Revenue
The combination of Google’s intelligence and new devices to drive the omnipresence of the “All-Knowing,” Google hopes that these experiences will give users time back and reduce their cognitive load to help them be as productive, creative, entertained and secured as possible. For consumers to feel the presence of the “All-Knowing,” they must transact in purchasing a device, and then they must subscribe to a software service to unlock the “healing” of premium intelligent experiences. The “All-Knowing” also helps to diversify Google’s revenue stream by driving the “Other Bets” category to create incremental hardware sales, subscription, and the revenue from the Google Play store.
The benevolence of the “All-Knowing” is not only limited to users’ digital devices. It is also used to improve the user’s understanding of the physical world to give us the confidence to explore and engage our curiosities. Google aspires to reduce the friction between consumers and business & civic establishments.
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