The Year in Review: Google

 

Late in 2011, Google's Eric Schmidt insisted that the company did not dominate in search or mobile, but a quick look at the tech headlines this year might suggest otherwise. Android devices are flying off the shelves, the company seems to finally be making headway in social, and companies still rely heavily on Google placement for online success.

But those victories did not come without controversy. Talk of Android fragmentation did not die down, while stories about Android malware seemed to pop up every few weeks. The company's search policies also prompted regulatory inquiries about possible anti-competitive behavior.

Oversight of these issues fell to Larry Page this year, who took over as Google CEO in April, leaving Schmidt to be executive chairman, or the public face of the company. And he was certainly never at a loss for anything to discuss. Let's take a look back at the year in Google.

A New Era

"In this new role I know he will merge Google's technology and business vision brilliantly. Larry, in my clear opinion, is ready to lead," Schmidt wrote in a January blog post.

That new leadership included a focus on products, particularly those that were no longer bearing fruit. Throughout the year, Page cleaned house and shut down everything from Google Labs to Google Buzz.In April, it was reported that Page would tie a quarter of Google employees' annual bonuses to the company's performance in social efforts. A week earlier, Google had unveiled the Facebook Like-esque +1 button, and by June, Google released its full-fledged social network, Google+.

Prior to Google+, the search giant had few successes in social. No one really understood Google Wave and Google Buzz ran into some privacy issues that eventually resulted in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. But after taking a page from Facebook, incorporating a few new innovations like Circles, and keeping initial access to a select few, users finally started to take notice, and a Google+ invite became the hottest ticket in town.

The social network opened to the public in September, and by October, Page said Google+ had 40 million users. That hardly compares to the more than 800 million Facebook users, but it wasn't bad given previous, lackluster outings; see the slideshow above for more.

Regulators Take Note

The Google Buzz FTC settlement, meanwhile, was not Google's only encounter with regulators this year. In June, the company revealed that the agency was conducting a "review of our business." The full extent of the inquiry has not been revealed, but the focus is believed to be Android and search.

In August, Google also reached a $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice over AdWords sales that allowed U.S. residents to access ads for online Canadian pharmacies.

Congress also wanted some answers. After some public wrangling, Schmidt finally agreed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, where he answered questions about whether or not Google favored its own products in its search results, among other things. Schmidt denied it, insisting that the search market is highly competitive.

Earlier in the year, however, Google ruffled some feathers when it changed its search algorithm to de-emphasize results from so-called content farms. The effort, dubbed Panda, was intended to surface more relevant Web sites but some businesses worried about how a drop in Google search rankings might affect their businesses. Demand Media, for example, reportedly experienced a 40 percent drop in traffic after Panda was put into effect.

In February, there was also a bit of a controversy over whether Microsoft's Bing was copying Google's search results. To test its theory, Google took a phrase that the average Google user was unlikely to search—like "mbzrxpgjys"?and manually paired it with an unlikely search result, like the homepage for RIM. These dummy search results were added to Google and days later, about 9 of the 100 tests added to Google were showing up on Bing. Microsoft denied it and accused Google of engaging in a honeypot attack and going after Bing because it was worried about its growth.

That was not the only time Google tangled with Microsoft this year. In March, Redmond joined an EU antitrust complaint against Google, accusing the company of restricting access to YouTube, content from book publishers, advertiser data, and more.