Google Turns the Page

As recently mentioned in the news, Google has recently reinstated Larry Page as their CEO, sparking off a mass of speculation as to why this has occurred. Was Eric Schmidt tired of the role? Had he taken it as far as he felt he could? Or, is it in fact as Schmidt said himself, that the changes are simply part of an effort to streamline the management structure, therefore speeding up the decision making?

Either way, having Page at the helm may provide Google with some much needed refreshing.

Will Cooper has addressed this on New Media Age. Cooper writes for their Search section, which deals with Search, affiliate marketing, and online regulation. In this article, he discusses a topic which has been on the tip of many web owners' tongues, the loss of that special Google "something". While Google searching is still the most popular choice and is definitely a front-runner in terms of advertising, revenue and user figures, over the past couple of years the company has seemingly lost its edge. Even Android, the mobile industry's fastest growing OS, doesn't seem to have reinstated the pizzazz in Google that once existed.

Perhaps, as Cooper suggests, the answer is Google Offers, the brand new group-buying site that was announced earlier last week. Of course Google's endeavours outside of Internet Searching have not always proved successful, so it will be interesting to watch the outcome.

Regardless of how Google Offers pans out, it will remain intriguing to monitor Page's actions now that he's back in charge. Last quarter Google announced a 26% rise in overall revenues with UK revenue having slipped from 12% of total annual to 10%. Here's hoping that the shakeup will be beneficial and can prevent this from dropping any further.