Larry Page marks one year anniversary as Google CEO with rare internet post
Google Co-founder and CEO Larry Page has used a rare online post to reflect on a year at the head of the company he says is “deserving of great love”.
Google's CEO Larry Page has reflected on his first year in the job in a rare internet posting that describes Google as a company that is "deserving of great love."
Associated Press reports that the post appeared on the company's website for investors and on Page's personal profile on the social networking service Google Plus.
The news agency describes how the 39-year-old shared his thoughts on Google's accomplishments and discussed future possibilities,but notes that he steered clear of mentioning investigations into the company's business and privacy practices by regulators in the US and Europe.
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"We have always wanted Google to be a company that is deserving of great love," Mr Page wrote. "But we recognize this is an ambitious goal because most large companies are not well-loved, or even seemingly set up with that in mind."
PC Magazine explains that Page has scrapped more than 30 Google products since taking office, including Google Buzz and Knol, and used his address to defend his decision.
"Google has so many opportunities that unless we make some hard choices we end up spreading ourselves too thin and don't have the impact we want," he wrote.
In an analysis of his first year as CEO, Wired says that the message reinforces perceptions that Page sees Google as "endangered", and adds that he lives in fear of the company being "bogged down by inertia, timidity or the sluggishness of bureaucracy."
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In the address he refers to efforts to keep the company current, with plans for "next-generation search" in which query results become less generic and more tailored to each individual user, the LA Times says.
"If you're searching for a particular person, you want the results for that person – not everyone with the same name," he wrote, defending changes to the company's privacy policy and pushing the advantages of sharing information through Google Plus. "These are hard problems to solve without knowing your identity, your interests, or the people you care about."
A technology analyst told the BBC that Google still has a lot of work to do.
"They still need to work on engagement," Colin Gillis from BGC Partners is quoted as saying. "Time spent on the Google+ is still minuscule when compared to Facebook and revenue from the site is immaterial."