Google's annual stockholder's meeting is about to begin. It's only a day after Press Day 2006, where all kinds of new Google services and products were announced. We're as anxious as you are to hear what Google's been up to behind closed doors (shareholders definitely want to know) and how those little nuggets are affecting and will be affecting Google's strategy against a raft of competitors. It still has the lead on many things now, but consistency and longevity are the keys to growing long-term shareholder value, aren't they?With that said, here we go! All times below are in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)...
2:00 p.m. Here we are on the webcast -- let's see if it actually starts on time
2:02 p.m. SG Sarah Gilbert here, joining in to tag-team the liveblogging! Double the insight, double the fingers, double the fun.
2:06 p.m. Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, is introing some of the Google top brass, including a nice intro for Sergey and Larry (we'll leave last names out).
2:09 p.m. David Drummond, Google's top legal counsel, is going through the normal quorum procedures as he talks about the election of directors. Intel CEO Otelinni is in there with some verbal nuance from David. Nice.
2:11 p.m. David Drummond is now talking about more Class A shares being brought to market soon, as a stockholder proposal that will be covered and voted on later.
2:13 p.m. A United Bricklayer representative is speaking about Google's founding and that he uses many Google services. He's stating that Google has been an excellent investment for the fund he represents. He specifically wants to have the dual-class stock structure abolished as today's stockholder vote goes forward. Hmm.
2:14 p.m. SG He sounds very nervous. And the Google management team has already expressed they're against this. They're voting now. Not exactly scintillating live stuff.
2:18 p.m. SG Tabulating the votes, hmmm... anything going on in after-hours trading? The stock is up a bit from its end-of-day trough.
2:19 p.m. SG The stockholder proposal was voted down, but everything else was voted up. The "official" part of the meeting is now over. That sure was quick, with at least six or seven of the 19 minutes used up in gathering ballots.
2:23 p.m. CEO Eric Schmidt is back and he's gonna cover the business end. He's saying he cannot remember the last time he didn't use Google to find something on the 'net. Aww, what a great CEO pitch!
2:26 p.m. Eric is talking about the sheer volume of people using Google search -- and that those small text ads that accompany every Google search work for some people -- and the volume of Google searches makes this lucrative. We know...
2:29 p.m. Eric is talking about targeted those text ads even more carefully, and starting to target radio ads (a reference to the DMarc purchase recently). He states that the customer will always respond to advertising, as long as it's relevant -- not blanket (like most TV ads).
2:32 p.m. Eric is now talking about the history of Silicon Valley and how many companies use one idea only to be successful over time -- while most other generated ideas don't ever pan out. Hmm, sounds like dot.com bubble talk to me...he's also talking about the 20% "do what you want" project work culture that Google has.
2:29 p.m. SG I wrote down some stuff he said... I thought it was pretty eloquent. He indicated that the "genius of the early founders was to narrate the vision of ubiquity of information along with the value of monetizing it. People had this notion that you could get all the world's information available to you, and the other idea was that advertising could be improved. Nobody likes ads... but people like ads that are targeted. People like ads that help them do something."
2:31 p.m. SG "I trust the user much more than the tourbook," Schmidt says about Google Earth and the photos people post of hotels they stay in. He sounds so impressed with his company.
2:34 p.m. SG He is in awe of Google Desktop 4. "I think we have a breakthrough here," he says, encouraging shareholders to try it out. He loves the "widgets."
2:34 p.m. SG The demand to work at Google has been so strong, it has actually increased the company's hiring standards, he says. But wasn't their standard already high? So I thought. It ends up becoming a point about how embracing Google is of open source philosophies -- in stark contrast to Microsoft, to read between the lines.
2:37 p.m. Eric is now talking about partnerships, partnerships, and oh yeah, partnerships. He concludes and the Q&A starts with Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
2:39 p.m. The first question regards Picasa, the photo-sharing software that Reyes (the CFO) says is best free. I like it. Brin is talking now about the analysis about being a GOOG shareholder in a neat segue.
2:41 p.m. "with tremendous power comes tremendous responsibility" is a quote mentioned by a California shareholder. Page takes this one, and he responds with "we must always make progress".
2:42 p.m. SG I think they just made a cut at either Microsoft, or Yahoo!, or both... saying that "often when our competitors say things are shipping, they actually aren't." I think that was either targeted at YPN, or MSN's advertising network -- what's the new name again?
2:44 p.m. The third question revolves around the coming ad platforms from Microsoft and Yahoo! Schmidt says that much press on the competitors is way ahead of the product itself (not a surprise), and he heavily defends that Google has the working solution - NOW!
2:45pm - SG One shareholder is asking, why is Google perceived as so evil? But not quite in those words. "We can't control the media," says Eric. I don't think I want you to control the media, silly -- isn't that the definition of evil?
2:48pm - SG Everyone seems to be into the "do no evil" thing today. Someone from Amnesty International wants to know how, in a world where Google is letting the government censor Chinese searches on google.cn., what search engines should people who care about human rights use? The response: search on Google.com, which isn't censored! I don't know if that's a very good answer. It's a very long one. But it doesn't really answer the question.
2:56pm - The next shareholder holds double-digit shares (not a large amount) - and he is welcome they say. Good. He asks about Google Finance -- and the graphs being a great innovation. His question revolves around why Google Finance is so limited to stocks only in the U.S. -- and the answer is in the licensing of international stocks being an issue on launch.
3:00 p.m. SG I liked that Sam Citron (double-digit guy) says he was very excited that Yahoo! Finance would finally have competition. I think this is Sergey answering, and he says that part of this is the way Google releases products -- they launch them early enough to get feedback "from real people like yourselves." As opposed to those fake people Microsoft uses. (Sorry! couldn't help it.) It seems that the press is being demonized by Google! Wow. "The press doesn't understand," says Sergey, the way the company releases products. And he offers to let Sam test the new Google Finance. Hopefully -- this time he'll come back. 'Cause he's real, yo.
3:02 p.m. SG Complaining about logistics. Seems like a neighborhood association meeting doesn't it?
3:05 p.m. Sergey and Larry talking about using Mozilla Firefox as their default browser in answer to a shareholder question. Rather daft question, but an entertaining one.
3:08 p.m. Again, the "stories people write" issue comes up, and the Google brass tag-team to answer the question on why they are so open with the company and its workings. Google is semi-plopping the press again. You go Goog!
3:12 p.m. A question about Google WiFi comes up, along with a possible co-op with Apple. Larry addresses the WiFi issue by mentioning the Earthlink partnership in San Francisco. Regarding Apple, Schmidt emphasizes that Apple is one of the great innovators of the age.
3:15 p.m. A shareholder is asking about placing a SIC (Standard Industry Code) into his Google ad -- question is really not answered directly. Another question from a four-share stockholder (garners laughs all-around) involves a possible Google PC. Schmidt takes this one, and mentions Sergey wanting to hook Google directly into the brain (hehe).
3:15 p.m. SG I wrote down the question this shareholder asked because it was really funny. "I've got my life savings, pretty much, in Google... I'm on the roller coaster. I'm in for the long haul, I'm hoping my four shares will pay off!" And I just had to mention ... hooking into the brain? Now that's evil.
3:15 p.m. SG How will Google compete against baidu.com, asks the last questioner. "We have the best quality, the most comprehensive product," they say, and the investments they're making in terms of comprehensiveness and accuracy will keep them on top. They're hoping to come in and find a way to create their own niche -- and, essentially, take over as soon as possible. And with that, good night.
3:16 p.m. It's all over, Google folks. Take care until next year! Well, for the next shareholder meeting that is...
SG wrapup: I was a little disappointed in the questions the shareholders asked. It seemed as if they were either completely drinking the Google Kool-aid (Goog-Aid? Gool-aid?), prefacing their questions with heaps of praise; or alternatively, complaining about logistical silliness. You should place the signs more prominently, whined one shareholder. Why didn't I receive the annual report in time to learn all about the lunch? asked another. The only criticisms were couched in nervous praise of all things Google. And please, if I never hear again about how everyone wants to Google their ancillary questions...
But my biggest discomfort with the whole procedure was how openly dismissive Google management was, of both the press and the competition. The press isn't evil (and here I'm not even considering myself as one of them ... I see Blogging Stocks as existing somewhere halfway between individual investor and Wall Street analyst). But those who complain loudly about how they can't control the press ... huh. Sorry Google. If you wanted to control the press, I guess you should have hired Dr. Evil as your PR agent. Or something.
Update: 7:45pm PDT (BW) - this wrap-up at BusinessWeek underscored the feel of the annual meeting today -- there was mostly praise heaped on Google from the shareholder audience. But, I agree with Sarah's wrap-up above -- Google's brass seemed overly dismissive of the power of the media ("we can't control it"). This is inline with Google's maverick nature against the mainstream marketplace -- love it or hate it. Some of the silliness of the audience's questions (from shareholders, no less) seemed downright, um, goofy. Surely there was more thinking going on in the heads of most shareholders, and we were looking for more insightful, deep-thought questions. Maybe they just picked the wrong folks for questions.
2:13 p.m. A United Bricklayer representative is speaking about Google's founding and that he uses many Google services. He's stating that Google has been an excellent investment for the fund he represents. He specifically wants to have the dual-class stock structure abolished as today's stockholder vote goes forward. Hmm.
2:14 p.m. SG He sounds very nervous. And the Google management team has already expressed they're against this. They're voting now. Not exactly scintillating live stuff.
2:18 p.m. SG Tabulating the votes, hmmm... anything going on in after-hours trading? The stock is up a bit from its end-of-day trough.
2:19 p.m. SG The stockholder proposal was voted down, but everything else was voted up. The "official" part of the meeting is now over. That sure was quick, with at least six or seven of the 19 minutes used up in gathering ballots.
2:23 p.m. CEO Eric Schmidt is back and he's gonna cover the business end. He's saying he cannot remember the last time he didn't use Google to find something on the 'net. Aww, what a great CEO pitch!
2:26 p.m. Eric is talking about the sheer volume of people using Google search -- and that those small text ads that accompany every Google search work for some people -- and the volume of Google searches makes this lucrative. We know...
2:29 p.m. Eric is talking about targeted those text ads even more carefully, and starting to target radio ads (a reference to the DMarc purchase recently). He states that the customer will always respond to advertising, as long as it's relevant -- not blanket (like most TV ads).
2:32 p.m. Eric is now talking about the history of Silicon Valley and how many companies use one idea only to be successful over time -- while most other generated ideas don't ever pan out. Hmm, sounds like dot.com bubble talk to me...he's also talking about the 20% "do what you want" project work culture that Google has.
2:29 p.m. SG I wrote down some stuff he said... I thought it was pretty eloquent. He indicated that the "genius of the early founders was to narrate the vision of ubiquity of information along with the value of monetizing it. People had this notion that you could get all the world's information available to you, and the other idea was that advertising could be improved. Nobody likes ads... but people like ads that are targeted. People like ads that help them do something."
2:31 p.m. SG "I trust the user much more than the tourbook," Schmidt says about Google Earth and the photos people post of hotels they stay in. He sounds so impressed with his company.
2:34 p.m. SG He is in awe of Google Desktop 4. "I think we have a breakthrough here," he says, encouraging shareholders to try it out. He loves the "widgets."
2:34 p.m. SG The demand to work at Google has been so strong, it has actually increased the company's hiring standards, he says. But wasn't their standard already high? So I thought. It ends up becoming a point about how embracing Google is of open source philosophies -- in stark contrast to Microsoft, to read between the lines.
2:37 p.m. Eric is now talking about partnerships, partnerships, and oh yeah, partnerships. He concludes and the Q&A starts with Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
2:39 p.m. The first question regards Picasa, the photo-sharing software that Reyes (the CFO) says is best free. I like it. Brin is talking now about the analysis about being a GOOG shareholder in a neat segue.
2:41 p.m. "with tremendous power comes tremendous responsibility" is a quote mentioned by a California shareholder. Page takes this one, and he responds with "we must always make progress".
2:42 p.m. SG I think they just made a cut at either Microsoft, or Yahoo!, or both... saying that "often when our competitors say things are shipping, they actually aren't." I think that was either targeted at YPN, or MSN's advertising network -- what's the new name again?
2:44 p.m. The third question revolves around the coming ad platforms from Microsoft and Yahoo! Schmidt says that much press on the competitors is way ahead of the product itself (not a surprise), and he heavily defends that Google has the working solution - NOW!
2:45pm - SG One shareholder is asking, why is Google perceived as so evil? But not quite in those words. "We can't control the media," says Eric. I don't think I want you to control the media, silly -- isn't that the definition of evil?
2:48pm - SG Everyone seems to be into the "do no evil" thing today. Someone from Amnesty International wants to know how, in a world where Google is letting the government censor Chinese searches on google.cn., what search engines should people who care about human rights use? The response: search on Google.com, which isn't censored! I don't know if that's a very good answer. It's a very long one. But it doesn't really answer the question.
2:56pm - The next shareholder holds double-digit shares (not a large amount) - and he is welcome they say. Good. He asks about Google Finance -- and the graphs being a great innovation. His question revolves around why Google Finance is so limited to stocks only in the U.S. -- and the answer is in the licensing of international stocks being an issue on launch.
3:00 p.m. SG I liked that Sam Citron (double-digit guy) says he was very excited that Yahoo! Finance would finally have competition. I think this is Sergey answering, and he says that part of this is the way Google releases products -- they launch them early enough to get feedback "from real people like yourselves." As opposed to those fake people Microsoft uses. (Sorry! couldn't help it.) It seems that the press is being demonized by Google! Wow. "The press doesn't understand," says Sergey, the way the company releases products. And he offers to let Sam test the new Google Finance. Hopefully -- this time he'll come back. 'Cause he's real, yo.
3:02 p.m. SG Complaining about logistics. Seems like a neighborhood association meeting doesn't it?
3:05 p.m. Sergey and Larry talking about using Mozilla Firefox as their default browser in answer to a shareholder question. Rather daft question, but an entertaining one.
3:08 p.m. Again, the "stories people write" issue comes up, and the Google brass tag-team to answer the question on why they are so open with the company and its workings. Google is semi-plopping the press again. You go Goog!
3:12 p.m. A question about Google WiFi comes up, along with a possible co-op with Apple. Larry addresses the WiFi issue by mentioning the Earthlink partnership in San Francisco. Regarding Apple, Schmidt emphasizes that Apple is one of the great innovators of the age.
3:15 p.m. A shareholder is asking about placing a SIC (Standard Industry Code) into his Google ad -- question is really not answered directly. Another question from a four-share stockholder (garners laughs all-around) involves a possible Google PC. Schmidt takes this one, and mentions Sergey wanting to hook Google directly into the brain (hehe).
3:15 p.m. SG I wrote down the question this shareholder asked because it was really funny. "I've got my life savings, pretty much, in Google... I'm on the roller coaster. I'm in for the long haul, I'm hoping my four shares will pay off!" And I just had to mention ... hooking into the brain? Now that's evil.
3:15 p.m. SG How will Google compete against baidu.com, asks the last questioner. "We have the best quality, the most comprehensive product," they say, and the investments they're making in terms of comprehensiveness and accuracy will keep them on top. They're hoping to come in and find a way to create their own niche -- and, essentially, take over as soon as possible. And with that, good night.
3:16 p.m. It's all over, Google folks. Take care until next year! Well, for the next shareholder meeting that is...
SG wrapup: I was a little disappointed in the questions the shareholders asked. It seemed as if they were either completely drinking the Google Kool-aid (Goog-Aid? Gool-aid?), prefacing their questions with heaps of praise; or alternatively, complaining about logistical silliness. You should place the signs more prominently, whined one shareholder. Why didn't I receive the annual report in time to learn all about the lunch? asked another. The only criticisms were couched in nervous praise of all things Google. And please, if I never hear again about how everyone wants to Google their ancillary questions...
But my biggest discomfort with the whole procedure was how openly dismissive Google management was, of both the press and the competition. The press isn't evil (and here I'm not even considering myself as one of them ... I see Blogging Stocks as existing somewhere halfway between individual investor and Wall Street analyst). But those who complain loudly about how they can't control the press ... huh. Sorry Google. If you wanted to control the press, I guess you should have hired Dr. Evil as your PR agent. Or something.
Update: 7:45pm PDT (BW) - this wrap-up at BusinessWeek underscored the feel of the annual meeting today -- there was mostly praise heaped on Google from the shareholder audience. But, I agree with Sarah's wrap-up above -- Google's brass seemed overly dismissive of the power of the media ("we can't control it"). This is inline with Google's maverick nature against the mainstream marketplace -- love it or hate it. Some of the silliness of the audience's questions (from shareholders, no less) seemed downright, um, goofy. Surely there was more thinking going on in the heads of most shareholders, and we were looking for more insightful, deep-thought questions. Maybe they just picked the wrong folks for questions.
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