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The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture Hardcover – September 8, 2005
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPortfolio Hardcover
- Publication dateSeptember 8, 2005
- Reading age18 years and up
- Dimensions6 x 1 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101591840880
- ISBN-13978-1591840886
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
This ambitious book comes with a strong pedigree. Author John Battelle was a founder of The Industry Standard and then one of the original editors of Wired, two magazines which helped shape our early perceptions of the wild world of the Internet. Battelle clearly drew from his experience and contacts in writing The Search. In addition to the sure-handed historical perspective and easy familiarity with such dot-com stalwarts as AltaVista, Lycos, and Excite, he speckles his narrative with conversational asides from a cast of fascinating characters, such Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Yahoo's, Jerry Yang and David Filo; key executives at Microsoft and different VC firms on the famed Sandhill road; and numerous other insiders, particularly at the company which currently sits atop the search world, Google.
The Search is not exactly the corporate history of Google. At the book's outset, Battelle specifically indicates his desire to understand what he calls the cultural anthropology of search, and to analyze search engines' current role as the "database of our intentions"--the repository of humanity's curiosity, exploration, and expressed desires. Interesting though that beginning is, though, Battelle's story really picks up speed when he starts dishing inside scoop on the darling business story of the decade, Google. To Battelle's credit, though, he doesn't stop just with historical retrospective: the final part of his book focuses on the potential future directions of Google and its products' development. In what Battelle himself acknowledges might just be a "digital fantasy train", he describes the possibility that Google will become the centralizing platform for our entire lives and quotes one early employee on the weightiness of Google's potential impact: "Sometimes I feel like I am on a bridge, twenty thousand feet up in the air. If I look down I'm afraid I'll fall. I don't feel like I can think about all the implications."
Some will shrug at such words; after all, similar hype has accompanied other technologies and other companies before. Many others, though, will search Battelle's story for meaning--and fast. --Peter Han
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
A terrific book. -- L. Gordon Crovitz, Dow Jones
Battelle's figured out why search is so damned important... and managed to turn the subject into a compelling analog story. -- John Huey, editorial director, Time inc.
John Battelle has written a brilliant business book ... All searchers should read it. -- Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute; former editor of Time; CEO of CNN; author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made
Nobody, and I mean nobody, has thought longer, harder, or smarter about Google and the search business than John Battelle. -- John Heilemann, author of Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era
This book ought to be called 'The Answer.' As usual, John Battelle delivers insightful, thought-provoking, and essential reading. -- Seth Godin, author of All Marketers Are Liars and Purple Cow
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Portfolio Hardcover; First Edition (September 8, 2005)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1591840880
- ISBN-13 : 978-1591840886
- Reading age : 18 years and up
- Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,151,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #155 in Internet Web Browsers
- #1,535 in Computers & Technology Industry
- #1,571 in Social Aspects of Technology
- Customer Reviews:
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Customers find the book enlightening, important, and well-researched. They describe it as well-written, articulate, and enjoyable to read. Readers also appreciate the information on the history and future of search.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book enlightening, important, and well-researched. They say it provides an interesting overview of the role of search. Readers also mention the book is good for beginners in Internet marketing and gives a thought-provoking discussion of how our brains work.
"...John Battelle does a great job at giving a detailed overview of the role of Search, which is especially helpful for a person like me, who has a..." Read more
"...This book well explained the intricacies of search as well as the economics, ethics and future of the field...." Read more
"...Very engrossing reading. Highly recommended." Read more
"...While this book is a history of Google, it also gives a thought provoking discussion of how our brains work...." Read more
Customers find the book well-written, intelligent, and enjoyable to read.
"...Battelle does all of the above with considerable aplomb. The man is a gifted writer and I can't wait for his next opus.Get. This. Book...." Read more
"...was very interesting and the book overall is very engaging and well written...." Read more
"Already outdated...Also, this book is not very well written and is slow to read." Read more
"...Search will do the same. Great story telling from a highly intelligent writer. Well researched with many insightful facts and predictitions...." Read more
Customers find the book highly informative on the history and future of search. They say it provides an interesting history of Internet search technology with a heavy emphasis on relevant search results. Readers also mention the book is engaging and well-written.
"...It also highlights how search engines and the Internet have rapidly changed and offers insight into where search technology may be heading next...." Read more
"...tell interesting stories* leave me wanting moreBattelle does all of the above with considerable aplomb...." Read more
"...Search was never the same again. Now search results are ALWAYS relevant. In fact, Google always returns exactly the sites I look for...." Read more
"...As someone who has grown up with search, this is a great read of how search evolved and provides a great backbone for understanding the..." Read more
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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John Battelle does a great job at giving a detailed overview of the role of Search, which is especially helpful for a person like me, who has a very limited knowledge of this topic. In addition, having a strong business and technical background, Battelle is even able to get a lot of insider information to further support his ideas. For example, he is able to incorporate his interviews with people like Brin and Page at Google, Bezos at Amazon, Yang and Filo at Yahoo, etc. Not to mention, he even brings the lesser known to the spotlight: Bill Gross, founder of GoTo.com, the first company to successfully provide an Internet search engine which relied upon sponsored search results and pay-per-click advertisements. It is these parts of the book that are most interesting, and enlightening. Not to mention, the book is a lot more credible with so many key figures of the Search industry being incorporated into the book.
Before reading this I thought that Search was just a box to enter in terms to search for. However, it is a rapidly growing field that morphs with many business ramifications: advertising, media, and sales to name a few. As we all know, Google makes the majority of their money off advertisements. In addition, many Internet users use the search engine to do their shopping as they are able to do some research on the item and find the best price before making their final purchase. Or, many also just do it because it allows for them to conveniently shop in the comforts of their own homes. The search engine's capabilities are endless. Many really novel ideas are and will continue to be coming out of the search engine/internet media industry. Already, we are thinking beyond text search queries and looking into visual queries. However, at the same time, agreeing with Battelle, we are definitely not far from search becoming like the voice of the Star Trek computer that even understands our verbal queries.
I'm glad that I did.
I had seen Battelle on Bloomberg West and he was particularly smart and articulate. My one initial hesitation with The Search: I had already read many books about Google. (I count Ken Auletta's book among my very favorites.) Did I really need to read yet another book about Larry and Sergey's company?
But here's the rub: Battelle's book is hardly Google-specific. Rather, it's about the vast implications of being able to find an increasing amount of information within seconds, a trend that shows no signs of abating. Now, to be sure, you can't write a book about the history of search without delving into Google, but this is a book about so much more than one company. For instance, I learned a great deal about the role of Bill Gross and GoTo.com, a precursor to Google and the guy who cracked the nut on paid placements. I hadn't realized that Larry and Sergey modified Gross' central idea.
A Glimpse of What's Beyond
While I probably should have read this excellent text when it was released, in a way I'm happy that I stumbled upon it now. Sure, AOL and Yahoo! are not nearly as relevant today as they were when Battelle was hammering away on his Mac. But reading books like this years after their release allows you to assess the author's predictions ex post facto. Battelle's vision of then then-future in 2006 is, for the most part, panning out.
On a general level, my very favorite business books do the following:
* advance a big idea
* teach me something new (not that easy to do, since I read many non-fiction, business, and technology books)
* tell interesting stories
* leave me wanting more
Battelle does all of the above with considerable aplomb. The man is a gifted writer and I can't wait for his next opus.
Get. This. Book. Now.
Top reviews from other countries
Very interesting, definitely worth a read if you interested in this kind of book.
もうひとつのキーワードが「意思」。検索が単なる語句の収集から検索者の意思の痕跡を積み上げていくものになった時にビジネス・モデルができあがったという点である。この見方からの検索ビジネスの将来についての著者の見通しはスピードの速いIT産業の中でも特にスピードの速い検索サービス業界の将来を見据えるのに役立つものであると思う。