Google Without Larry Page Would Not Be Like Apple Without Steve Jobs

Photo: Niall Kennedy/Flickr

The words that exploded onto Twitter came in the soft, strained voice that Larry Page has made a fixture of Google’s quarterly calls:

“I wanted to let you know that going forward, I won’t be joining every earnings call,” the Google co-founder and CEO said after introducing Google’s third-quarter results yesterday. Future calls, he said, would be left in the hands of CFO Patrick Pichette and Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora. “I know you all would love to have me on,” Page said, “but you are also depending on me to ruthlessly prioritize my time for the benefit of the business.”

Speculation blew up immediately that Page was stepping back from the calls because of a chronic condition that has left his vocal cords partially paralyzed. Yet the panic expected by some never ensued, and it likely wouldn’t even if Page were to step down altogether.

Instead of worrying about a Page-less future, investors sent Google’s stock soaring more than 13 percent today to top $1,000 a share for the first time. The boost came after Google’s profits jumped dramatically on an increase in paid clicks, which came even as the “cost per click” of the company’s ads continued to fall — in the past, a red flag for Wall Street.

The paid-click increase suggests that Google is getting better at what it already does best: crunching its vast trove of data to target people with links they will click. Ad prices haven’t turned around to catch up with that increased engagement from users because Google — just like everyone else — has yet to solve the clickability problem of mobile ads. They’re everywhere, but they’re just tiny and dull. One way to sidestep those issues would seem to be making the ads irresistibly relevant, which the company appears to be doing quite well.

Google’s impressive results suggest that Page’s decision to step back from at least one aspect of his public role doesn’t reflect that he is having any problem running the company effectively. Little more than a year ago, both Google and Apple shares were hitting their stride in the $700 range. Since then, the archrivals’ share prices have traveled nearly mirror-opposite trajectories as Apple has struggled to convince investors that it hasn’t lost its innovation mojo.

Underlying the loss of confidence in Apple is the fear that without Steve Jobs, it’s just not the same company. But it’s hard to imagine the same concern around Google, were Page to not just step back but step down.

Jobs was known for his showmanship, but underlying the theater was the sense of magic generated by the products themselves. People marveled at these new wonders they held in their hands — the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad — and were more than willing to elevate Jobs to mythical status as the provider of the creative spark.

Search, Google’s core product, is itself wondrous. Unlike shiny new gadgets, however, Google search has become such an expected part of the internet’s fabric that it has become mundane. The only time most of us would likely think much about search at all is if it stopped working. With search as well as other wildly successful products such as Gmail and Android deeply enmeshed in global digital culture, Google’s key function as a business is to figure out how to leverage those platforms to get people to click on more ads. In other words, Google has to keep crunching data to achieve incremental algorithmic improvements that bolster its ad business.

At Apple, incremental change rather than the expectation of near-annual revolutions is exactly what has gotten the company into trouble. And it’s hard to imagine how Apple can change the perception that its innovative spirit has diminished without a new charismatic figure to lead the public charge.

At Google, on the other hand, Page has since the beginning helped solidify a culture where geekiness is prized above all, a place where a few quiet engineers can tweak a little code and send millions more dollars pouring into company coffers. Unlike Apple, whose business depends on thrilling the gadget-consuming masses a few times a year, most of the changes that truly impact Google’s bottom line happen behind the scenes with little or no fanfare at all.

Perhaps one day, Google will hit a wall where its ads can’t get any better and it will have to seek new paths to growth. In the meantime, however, the engine that Page helped jumpstart a decade-and-a-half ago is humming and will likely continue to do so, even if he’s no longer at the wheel.