Google Is the Borg. Fortunately, There's Yahoo; Or, I've Got News for Google News

Gary North

July 2, 2010

Here are two unbreakable rules:

1. Bera test every change extensively before implementing it.
2. Beta test this change on volunteers, not existing customers.

Google recently broke rule 2. Or maybe it just broke rule 1.

Google is filled with high IQ people. When the marketing geniuses are in charge, the company forges ahead. But it is a high-tech company. It is filled with techies who -- like all techies -- have a lust to make things "neat." They want things to be digitally precise and digitally efficient. Efficiency is not defined as "user-friendly." Digits are what counts.

Google is the Borg.

Yesterday, Google News offered a survey for me. Here is what it looked like:

I filled it in and clicked. Poof! All my settings disappeared. I cannot get them back.

Before, Google News structured the page in terms of categories. You could rearrange the categories. You could drop some or add others. I found that no rearranging ever held. It always reverted to the default setting. I gave up long ago. I just skipped over sports, entertainment, and health. I read what I wanted. I went back several times a day.

In short, I was a good customer. I kept coming back. Never again.

I clicked the survey. The survey was a trap. "Resistance is futile." My news page was re-formatted. The "new, improved" Google News page has a hierarchical list of stories matching no visible structure. The categories are gone. I cannot go to a category to read all the stories. I cannot find topics.

I also cannot go back to the old Google page. It's gone. No categories for me!

Google is the Borg.

Well, I can resist. I can switch to Yahoo, which has its techies under greater control.

Maybe I was a guinea pig. Maybe Google is testing user response on a handful of lab rats. Well, the company has mine. Here is my response:

Here is the nature of the war between people and techies. The techies are systems-focused. They want the system to be efficient from the point of view of the head of systems maintenance. They care nothing about users. Users are the enemy. They are digitally challenged. They do not think digitally. They want the liberty to do things their way. Their way is never the digitally efficient way.

In 1960, Theodore Levitt wrote a classic essay for the Harvard Business Review: "Marketing Myopia." It described most businesses, especially large, successful businesses, as product-focused. The secret of success, he said, is to focus on customers. Don't focus on improving production without first focusing on customer preferences and alternatives.

I have no objection when Google takes a survey. But the techies want control. They convinced marketers to force users to do it their way. Customers would be forced to adopt the new platform. Once the sucker customer clicks the survey, he is barred forever from going back to the old layout. The Standard U.S. Edition of day before yesterday is gone. Click the link. The page is still scrambled. No categories.

I've got news for Google News: Yahoo's layout is now much better than the scrambled mess on Google News.

Techies are not paid on commission. Like everyone else, they want more for less. They want better working conditions for the same salary. If they can force users to do things their way, at no risk of being fired, they will. They are self-interested. They want things neat. Users are messy.

Marketers and salesmen know that users are messy. Users are also fussy. Most important, they are obstinate. It costs money and time to gain their loyalty. Repeat business is where the profits are. Once lost, loyalty is almost impossible to re-establish.

Google News has lost my loyalty. This was unnecessary. Some Google bonehead with a high IQ and a programmer's mindset thought he could improve things.

I can also improve things.