Sundar Pichai is one of the world’s most successful companies and dominates the online advertising market.
At Vox Media’s Code Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., Pichai spoke about facing a “very hot” tech market during a time of economic uncertainty. At a time when Big Tech critics like Sen. Amy Klobuchar are pushing antitrust laws targeting the company, the idea that Google is struggling could also serve as a useful argument.
“Competition comes out of nowhere,” said Pichai, CEO of Google and parent company Alphabet, which owns YouTube. “You know, three years ago nobody was talking about his TikTok.”
Short-form video platform TikTok, which has quickly become one of the most popular apps in the world, is just one of the challenges Pichai faces in today’s market.
Alphabet faced a significant decline in its stock price last year as the recent economic slowdown hit many big tech companies’ ad-based revenues. In the second quarter of 2022, Alphabet underperformed earnings and earnings estimates for the second straight quarter.
“I mean, you’re talking about multiple companies now, and there are some very good companies like Trade Desk, which shows how vibrant this market is. A few years ago. It’s completely different,” he said.
This means Google, one of the biggest employers in tech and a company famous for offering generous benefits to its full-time staff, is also tightening its belt.
“I’ve always believed that focusing too much on the competition tends to lead to failure. “Big companies especially fail because they stumble internally.”
In recent months, the company has begun a hiring freeze. Pichai also warns that staff productivity and focus need to be improved.
In an internal memo in July, Pichai said, “We need to be more urgent, more focused, hungrier and more entrepreneurial than we have shown on a sunny day. there is.
“At scale, decisions can be slow,” Pichai said when asked how to make Google more productive.
Kara Swisher joked on stage with Pichai about how a fictional version of Google is portrayed in HBO’s hit comedy series silicon valley“People are just, you know… all on the roof, resting and getting their rights,” she said.
“never seen silicon valley‘ replied Pichai. “Too close to home”
