Everybody is agog that Google is targeting a value of $36 Billion with its IPO. Is Google worth it? Part of the answer lies in what you think Google can really do for you and your competitors' business.
It's interesting. In Ann Arbor, a fairly tech-literate town in the Midwest, small tech business owners I talk to are just starting to experiment with Google Adwords. By its own admission, Google has fewer than 30,000 customers. Google's valuation is based on those customers and its potential to grow them.
So, how does Google do it? The jury is still out. They'll need to appeal to a customer base beyond the highly technically literate, and they'll have to convince everybody, including technically literate, to go beyond experimenting. To do this, the on-ramp will have to be very easy, and the value proposition will have to be clear.
Currently, the value proposition is clearest if you own a web site. Google Adwords do drive traffic to your site, giving you the opportunity for a sale. If you don't have a web site, Google Adwords do you no good. If your web site is not designed to drive customers to immediate revenue-generating opportunities, Google Adwords may generate awareness, but how they pay for themselves is uncertain.
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