Yes, Steve Ballmer did try to talk Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) down to Earth when he spoke at Stanford University earlier this month. "The hottest company right now -- the one nobody thinks can do any wrong -- may just be a one-hit wonder," said the energetically fiery -- and sometimes overly sweaty -- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO.
Once a student at Stanford, Ballmer was still dissing the home team. Sergey Brin and Larry Page were computer-science grad students at Stanford when they founded Google with Stanford's university money. Yes, Stanford is a shareholder, and it has also received cash and stock in annual licensing fees from Google.
Yet rather than argue about Ballmer's gutsy move in biting the hand that feeds his audience, let's get into how hypocritically preposterous that accusation seems. Microsoft was once erroneously tagged as a one-hit wonder when it was simply providing personal computers with its operating-system software. Not only did that prove to be a lucrative high-margin business for Microsoft -- similar to Google's sponsored-search business these days -- but also Ballmer's company used that captive audience to shove everything from application software to operating-system upgrades through its active site. It tapped its massive coffers to launch the Xbox, the fastest-growing video game console.
Google's search engine is a monster hit, sure, yet it's more "I Want to Hold Your Hand" than "Come On Eileen." That's because Google's got a string of catchy singles in the works. Google is already taking on standalone commerce sites like Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) with Froogle and hitting Mr. Softy in the jugular with desktop-search software, and the company will see its growth in the future come from similar expansions into the turf of other bellwethers. Google's Gmail product is gunning for Microsoft's Hotmail and Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) Mail, while its recently launched personalized homepage offering hits Yahoo! and just about any ISP's landing page below the belt. So calling Google a one-hit wonder is like calling it a day for Elvis Presley after "Heartbreak Hotel."
If Google is a one hit wonder, Steve... man, oh, man, just wait until you check out the B-side.
More reasons why Google is going to No. 1 with a bullet:
- Google's latest track sounds a lot like MyYahoo!
- There is a potentially fatal flaw that can turn this pop star crooner into Milli Vanilli.
- Check out our Rule Breakers newsletter service for more ultimate growth stock ideas.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz thinks that it's better to be a one-hit wonder than being one hit shy of being a one-hit wonder. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
