Book Review | I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards

By Nelson DeMestre | Associate Analyst at NAOS Asset Management

“Most disconcerting was Microsoft’s awakening to the power of search …. If Allchin’s {Microsoft Windows Group VP} vision included integrating search into the new version of Windows Microsoft was soon to release, it could eliminate the need to launch a browser and go to Google to search. Given the number of Windows users worldwide, our traffic could drop in a hurry. Without traffic, we would show fewer ads and make less money. Way less money”. 

In the context of todays search engine and AI wars, this book is a very interesting read on the strategy behind Google and how quickly things change in their industry. The book is written by Douglass Edwards, a founding employee of Google who joined the company in 1999, going on to become its Director of Consumer Marketing and Brand Management, before leaving in 2005. 

“Larry Page {Google Co-Founder}, more than anyone I ever met, hated systems that ate hours and produced suboptimal results. His burning passion was to help the world stop wasting his time”

“That love of efficiency begat a fondness for frugality, because paying more than the bare minimum for something was by definition wasteful. Larry liked trimming unnecessary expenses, but it was Sergey {Google Co-Founder} who fully applied his razor-sharp intellect to cutting costs”

“Our big issues barely grazed the electrified moral fence of our “don’t be evil” credo: develop the best search technology, sell lots of ads, avoid getting killed by Microsoft”

Competition

“The cost per query is really too low. Given the revenue we have, we should be able to do much more. Spending money to improve search quality would create a perceptible gap between Google’s results and those of our competitors”

“ ’We will buy you’ – was Microsoft’s ploy when it came to start-ups that threatened them, or ‘we will bury you’. Google was not for sale. Nor would Google be foolish enough to partner with Microsoft, exposing our technology to them in ways that would “harvest” it and use it against us”

“Most disconcerting was Microsoft’s awakening to the power of search….If Allchin’s {Microsoft Windows Group VP} vision included integrating search into the new version of Windows Microsoft was soon to release, it could eliminate the need to launch a browser and go to Google to search. Given the number of Windows users worldwide, our traffic could drop in a hurry. Without traffic, we would show fewer ads and make less money. Way less money”. 

As the above quotes illustrate, the book goes through how quickly market conditions changed for Google in the early 2000 years and is definitely a great read.

Link to book