05.11 / Google Search & more.
Google Search
While ‘googling’ something have you ever gone to page-5 and beyond. I rarely do!
And that is a big issue. We think based on years of learning Google’s algorithm is good enough that it gives us the top results for anything we want to search for. But there is an issue - the whole setup is still driven by ads-revenue and advertiser's push to remain on the top of page-1. SEO optimisation is a big thing in the industry.
So in a setup where everything is aligned to show the results that companies are paying for - why do you think we (common people) will get the top results - that we want. Why?
Don’t mistake it. I love Google and all what it has given us in terms of tech-progress and entrepreneurship spirt. But there is a gap and till now no one is close enough to challenge this status-quo, let alone displace it.
So jumping to the core topic - Reddit. It is huge (check stats here). Only such a big platform with new improved features like Search can challenge Google. A new startup is unlikely to be that good - that it can challenge the technical-powers and heaps of cash Google has! But Reddit has its own issues (blog topic of another day).
I stumped upon a great article which explores this intersection of ‘Google Search + Reddit.’ Definitely worth a read. Few snippets that I like 👇
On HackerNews, a commenter wrote, “Why are people searching Reddit specifically? The short answer is that Google search results are clearly dying. The long answer is that most of the web has become too inauthentic to trust.”
....
Reddit is hard for corporations in a way that it just isn't for them on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. Corporations are not invited to participate in Reddit's public discourse. Astroturfing—the act of a company pretending to be a normal user while promoting their product online—as well as ads do exist there, but it’s hard to do consistently well.
California poised to take over Germany
Any macroeconomic student will know GDP stat is the basic stuff taught on Day minus1. Long term planners continuously look at GDP and GDP per capita and they are among few KPIs in used in building investment thesis for long term. Instead of looking at past year, a long term GDP trend gives a much better picture of what the future may hold.
So obviously, I was fascinated by this chart below in Bloomberg. Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it or knew about it until last month. It is indeed staggering the way California has grown despite suffering from numerous climate based calamities year-on-year.
A snippet that caught my eye 👇
The truth is that California outperforms the US and the rest of world across many industries. That's especially relevant with renewable energy, the fastest-growing business in California and Germany. The market capitalization of California companies in this business increased 731% the past three years, or 1.74 times more than their German counterparts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Should startup investments be democratized?
I do a lot of polls and tweets on Startups - Check them all out here
Checkout other Startups focused projects here.