Which Google Brands Will Benefit From Alphabet?

With the advent of Alphabet earlier this week, Google is separating things like search and ads from the more experimental parts of its business. Will both sides be equally affected by the restructuring?

Not according to David Erickson, vice president of online marketing for Karowski Courage, a Minneapolis public relations agency. Beyond Alphabet, Google has rolled out several updates this week, including enhancements to Android prior to the Android M’s release. The company was going to focus on Android whether or not a new holding company was formed, he says.

“[Google] kept all the things that affect search together so I don’t really think there’s an impact on anything having to do with search right now, Android or otherwise,” Erickson says. “Maybe things will get better and tighter and more integrated, but I don’t see much change at all now.”

Dave Davies, chief executive (CEO) of Canadian SEO firm Beanstalk Services, agrees that Google staples won’t be impacted much by the restructuring, though he sees the appointment of Sundar Pichai as CEO resulting in innovations around areas like Local and Hangouts.

“Personally, I think the biggest impact is helping keep segments of Alphabet isolated from each other so that if one gets hit with an anti-trust issue, it won’t necessarily hit the others,” Davies says. “I think the other one is helping investors by allowing for more transporting on Google search separate from their other endeavors, allowing for investment in one over the other.”

The new, slimmer Google will include search, ads, apps, maps, YouTube and Android. Alphabet covers everything else, such as Boston Dynamics, Google’s engineering and robotics design company; Project Jacquard, which the search giant partnered with Levi’s to create “smart jeans;” and Google Express, which is still “miles away” from being a serious competitor to Amazon Prime, according to TheStreet.

Erickson points out that smaller, less profitable facets of the business probably haven’t received as much attention and nurturing from Google in the past. He thinks the formation of Alphabet is positive because it’ll result in more focus beyond search and ads, ultimately leading to improved data collection within the company and improved communication outside of it.

“One thing that’s always frustrated me about Google is that as brilliant as they are – they’re a bunch of engineers, but they’re not communicators,” he says. “There’s not a lot of clarity in what they’re trying to do. Maybe this reorganization will allow each individual unit to be more savvy about how they communicate with their end users.”

“I’ve always said that once a company gets to 100 people, you’ve got to chop it in half because there’s more accountability when you have a smaller organization,” Erickson adds. “That’s not entirely applicable to a huge organization and what Google has done, but I do think there’s something to it.”