Sure, Google is so big it’s a verb. Sure, it dominates search. Sure, it’s made people very rich. But it’s also a company that is doing a lot of things poorly. There, I said it.

Before you cry out, “Blasphemy!” hear me out. The reason Google got so big is because it has done search better than anyone. It revolutionized search by creating new algorithms, new search tools, new advertising offerings, and had the cajones to do it with the world’s simplest homepage. This was accomplished when animated gifs were everywhere.

But now, Google has transformed into this company that isn’t so much revolutionizing anything so much as it is trying to do everything. It has software envy all over the place, even for its own beloved search. No sooner did it see that people were using browser plugins that gave a preview of the sites on the SERP, but then it copied it. But when it copied it, it ended up being the inferior option, and one you can’t uninstall.

Google created so-called work productivity tools to counter Microsoft Office. But what it created wasn’t any better, necessarily, than than Office, it just wasn’t Microsoft. And don’t even get me started on +1. AntiSocial Media does a fine job of explaining why it’s horrible if you want to read up on it.

I’m all in favor of failing. If you don’t allow yourself to fail frequently, you won’t be free to innovate or get over those hurdles. But as of this writing, Google’s “more” page lists nearly 50 projects, and only a small percentage of those are innovative, cool, or pioneering. Google needs to stop chasing what it perceives is its next opportunity to grab a share of what others are already doing well and come up with something that blows our minds. Remember how cool Google Earth was (or still is)?

In my opinion, Google is suffering from an identity crisis. This happens to a lot of big companies. They get money and get distracted. They try to see what things they can do to both spend it and make more because, hey, making money is fun. But that’s also when they lose sight of their core business, their value proposition. “Don’t be evil” isn’t a value proposition. When Mapquest is kicking your ass with its map interface, it’s time to dig in your heels and reclaim your throne. I, for one, am running out of reasons to keep them in the #1 spot. How about you?

Tags: +1, Google, Microsoft, social media | Category Media, Web & Tech