PatternExon

The Search – John Battelle

// January 3rd, 2007 // books, reading, review

Now, everyone knows Google is BIG. But that is exactly what made me pick this one. Though reading about Google does tend to get boring when the entire Geekdom of Cyberia is on a GOOOOOOOOOOOOGLE roar. I had some reservations about this when I started reading it that the Google-Is-Everything syndrome would leave a sour taste of badly constructed metaphors. But John Battelle deserves credit for staying clear from this worship. The text is well written, personal & paced. He captures the difference that is Google without diminishing the people behind it & vice versa. Though I think, to write a same book today would be tougher.

The author lives up to the title, this is book is not only about Google but how did search become the most powerful tool for getting information. The inception of the idea of a search, the famed paper on the Anatomy of a Search Engine, the frugality that is only tolerable to garage start-ups is all captured here. Also Overture’s legacy of ads + search – the business model that finally made it possible for a little of democracy to seep into the Internet ads worlds is beautifully told. The future of what search can be is also dealt with, yeah and like everyone else – semantic web comes into play. The cliche is explained but only just, yes Search is tricky & predicting it even more.

The book is well researched & Battelle’s own insight into the Silicon Valley & its big players leaves an informed & a little de-charmed image of how a start-up becomes as big as Google, Amazon or Ebay.