Google is Growing

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “$12 Billion Deal will Put Google in Mobile Market,” describes a groundbreaking development in the Internet industry, the takeover of Motorola cell phones by Google. The deal helps Google and consumers in several ways — by creating a new player in smartphones, it potentially opens up the field to innovation and new competition. For those who claim that Google is too big already, it must be noted that the merger is unlikely to be blocked on antitrust grounds because the two companies are not in the same industry, even though the two fields are related.

The deal does provide some stiff competition to Apple, and that’s a good thing. And it allows Google to stave off a large number of patent infringement cases because Motorola has its own stable of patents that wil help to defend against them.

Google has also pledged to continue providing its software to other cell phone companies, and the CEO of Motorola will remain, allowing the company to operate in a semi-independent fashion. The world of the Internet undergoes constant innovation, and in measuring any deal, one must evaluate whether it increases the possibility for breakthroughs or decreases them. This merger definitely falls into the former case.