GOOGLE: New Business Model
Advanced level:
• Grammar: Make or Do – business idioms
• Functional Vocabulary: Requesting information and action
• Listening Exercises: The business philosophy
• Reading: Google’s origin and growth
• Pronunciation Practice: /oo/ sound
• Business Phrases: Idioms
• Cultural Awareness Point: Inappropriate emails
• Role Play: Which way forward for Google?
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"You can make money without doing evil.”
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google
Introduction: Discuss these questions:
• What do you know about Google? Who are its competitors?
Listening Exercise 1:
You are going to hear a spokesperson talking about Google. As you listen take
notes, and answer the questions below.
Note: the questions are not in chronological order
1. How much did Google pay for YouTube?
2. How do Adwords make money?
3. Why was Google popular from the beginning?
4. Which search engine is second in popularity?
5. How did Google begin?
GRAMMAR PRACTICE: Make or do
Make and Do have different uses, and no clear rules on their use.
EXERCISE: Place the expressions either in the make or do box.
An agreement - a decision - a deal - the accounts - an appointment - arrangements -
someone a favour - a fuss - an impression – marketing / research - business with -
well
- a promise - a profit / loss - a mistake - an offer - up one's mind - damage - sense
MAKE: DO:
Exercise: Choose the correct form of make or do for the gaps in the sentences.
1. If you want to use Adwords, I'm sure we can a deal.
2. I a decision and will speak to the chairman.
3. We would offer you discount but we don’t enough business with you.
4. Tania, don’t a fuss over such a trivial matter
5. Can you me a favour and call the sales department at Google?
6. It’s always important to a good impression.
7. If you don’t up your mind you will lose the opportunity.
8. We well last year.
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Introductory questions:
• Is Google too dominant?
• What are the reasons for Google’s success?
READING: Insert the correct form of Make or Do into the gaps.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, co-founders of Google, are in their early 30’s and have
1. over $13 billion each. Brin talks a lot about Google, but it is his underlying
message that is perhaps the most powerful: “For people with focus and passion, all
things are possible. Simple ideas can change the world,” he said. “Take the case of
the Wikipedia, the free online multilingual encyclopedia, written collaboratively by
volunteers. Anyone can 2. an entry on the Wikipedia website, and anyone
can edit it.
In a similar way, Google started out with the simplest of ideas, and with a global
audience in mind. In the mid-1990s, Brin and Larry Page were students at Stanford
University, studying computer science. Brin remembers five major Internet search
engines at that time, but the importance of the actual search was being neglected.
"We believed we could build a better search. We had a simple idea, that not all
pages are created equal. Some are more important," related Brin. “The more links
you have the more relevance you must have to the public. If the existing search
engines had
3. the research it would have been obvious.”
The algorithm that Google uses to rank pages has evolved over the years, but the
concept that ‘not all pages are equal’ remains at the heart of Google's success.
And what about the competition … Yahoo! and Microsoft for example?
Burning up time and energy worrying about what other companies are doing is a
mistake, Brin claimed. Instead, you should focus on where you and your enterprise
are going, your ambitions and your vision. ‘Google,’ he said, ‘will simply focus on the
opportunities and possibilities made possible by the company's growing resources.
And believe me, you can make money without 4. evil.”
Many ask about Google's role in China, and some questioned whether the company
was cooperating with the Chinese government, enabling the censorship of online
information. Brin 5. no excuses and replies with the argument that Google
complies with the laws of individual countries, even if Google does not necessarily
agree with them, and has never censored the site. Governments do this themselves
by blocking information.
What role could Google play in ending the digital divide, the economic gulf between
those who have computers and those who do not? “Google,” Brin says, “is working
towards 6. away with internet charges by promoting the wireless Internet
market. In 2007, for instance, Google offered to blanket the City of San Francisco
with wireless Internet access at no cost to the city or to users. However, to give
control over Internet access to one company, namely Google, is proving difficult to
accept, and the city is
7. no promises.
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FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY: Requesting Information &
Action
FORM: Each of the following can be indirect or direct questions, a request or an
order e.g.
Does Google promote Gmail? (Direct Question)
I want you to advertise the site using Adwords (Order)
Would you mind searching for the information? (Request - indirect)
USES: These examples are graded from the most Direct at the top to Indirect at the
bottom. The more Indirect phrases are typical of the British style of requesting.
DIRECT
I want you to …
Please tell me …
Do you know …
Can you tell me …
Will you …
Could you …
I’d like to ask you …
I’d like to know …
Do you happen to know …
Perhaps you could tell me …
Perhaps you could …
Could you possibly …
Could you possibly tell me …
Do you think you could …
Would you mind …
Would you mind telling me …
I wonder if you could tell me …
Do you think I could ask you …
I wonder if you’d mind …
I was wondering if you could tell me …
I was wondering if you’d mind telling me …
INDIRECT
SPEAKING PRACTICE: Request information or action in these situations. Use
direct style or indirect style as appropriate.
1. You need to find the time of a sales meeting from your secretary
2. You want to ask for directions to the hotel and stop a policeman
3. Ask a colleague to pass you a document
4. You ask your boss for a pay rise
5. You find the computer is not working and call IT to repair it
6. You speak to a salesperson at Google and want to know the cost of Adwords
7. There is an issue with a customer about the bill. They haven’t paid yet
8. You ask a stranger to move out of your way so that you can enter a room
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CULTURAL AWARENESS: Sending Inappropriate Emails
In the UK business community there are certain subjects that should always be
avoided in emails. Jokes or comments of a sexual, racist, homophobic, or macho
nature are certainly inappropriate, and can result in the sender losing their job.
You should never forward them either. Other subjects that are unacceptable are
insults, threats and flirting.
SPEAKING PRACTICE:
• Does your culture/nationality see these subjects as inappropriate too?
• Can you add to the list of inappropriate subjects?
• How would you react if somebody sent you an inappropriate email?
Listening exercise 2:
Listen and answer the questions below. NOTE: They are not in chronological order
1. What Google service reports all activity on individual websites?
2. ‘Attention is more important than real estate’. What does this mean?
3. What is Google’s strategy?
4. What is the problem with Google’s strategy?
5. Why did Google buy YouTube and Blogger?
BUSINESS PHRASES: Idioms
Exercise: Decide the meaning of the underlined idioms
1. Two months after they did the deal Google turned the corner.
Took a different direction – recovered – was sold – went bankrupt
2. They went to the wall when the new regulations came into effect.
Went bankrupt – asked for investment – hid – looked for protection
3. He did really well with the website but is he a one trick pony?
Has single skill – a fool – a hard worker – is a trickster
4. They’ve thrown a spanner in the works by introducing the penalty clause.
Made more work – opened talks – created a big obstacle – broke the law
5. The contractor gave us a ballpark figure for the cost of repair.
Definite cost – approximate cost – a low price – high price
6. By giving away a little now you are sowing the seeds for the future.
Cutting costs – investing – destroying – releasing
7. If we don’t grow quickly we could fall prey to a bigger company.
Be destroyed by – be acquired by – be an obstacle to – irritate
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Pronunciation Practice: /oo/
Check the meaning of these words and sentences containing /oo/ with your
tutor, and practice saying them:
GOOGLE - FOOT - BOOK - SCHOOL - COOK - BALLOON - POOL - MOOD -
WOOD - LOOSE - BOOT - DOOR – CO-OPERATION - POOR - GOOD – FLOOR
• Which book shows the scooter tools?
• Are your shoes too loose to wear on the wooden floor?
• The school swimming pool opens at noon, and is owned by a co-operative.
Role Play
BACKGROUND: You have a meeting with board members of Google to discuss
the future of the company. What is can invest in next without the public losing
confidence in it. You need to decide a course of action.
DISCUSS THE OPTIONS and try to come up with a solution. Practice using the
grammar (Make and Do – Business Idioms) and the Functional Vocabulary
(Requesting Information and Action) you have learnt in this unit.
THE HEAD OF STRATEGY: You feel that the best way forward for the company is
to control the Internet. This is crucial to everything.
MARKETING TEAM: You feel that the best option will be to gain control of the
media, the TV, radio and newspapers, as this will have power over everything else.
Argue your case.
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GOOGLE - ADVANCED
Audio-script 1 - Google
Google was founded in California in 1998, and now has annual revenue of over $7 billion.
The company began as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D.
students at Stanford University. They looked at search engines and were convinced that the
websites with the most requests were more important than other websites, and worth a higher
ranking. They wrote the programme, set up the Google search engine and it was immediately
popular.
In part this was because of its ranking policy, but also it was fast because they kept the home
page simple, with no pictures. Google's services are not run on one huge computer but are
processed by thousands of low-cost commodity computers located around the world.
The Google search engine receives over a billion search requests per day, which is as much
as 80% of the market, with Yahoo coming a distant second. And Google has diversified. In
October 2006, Google bought the popular online video site YouTube for $1.65 billion. But how
does it make so much money? In 2000, Google began selling advertisements associated with
search keywords, and called it Adwords. Adwords are charged on the number of hits they get,
and the advertiser can say how much he wants to pay for every hit, starting at 5 cents. The
more the advertiser is prepared to pay for the hits the higher up the ranking page it goes.
Audio-script 2 - Google
What's Google's Strategy? Google's revenue is based on advertising, so it needs more and
more places to show its ads to increase its revenue. Google has been acquiring properties
that serve as venues for its ads, such as Blogger and YouTube. Google has also pioneered
new offerings that attract audiences for its ads, such as Gmail, and Google Earth. But Google
knows that the reason that its ads have commanded premium prices (versus banner ads) is
because Google ads have the customer's attention. When someone is searching for
something, they are interested in the ads, while Web surfers might not be. So, attention is
more important than real estate. Showing a display ad does not ensure true customer
attention. True attention is relevance. And the key to that kind of relevance is personalization.
That's Google's strategy, personalising the relevance by finding out more about everyone.
Google Analytics reports all activity on individual websites. Google Checkout knows what gets
bought. Google Website Optimizer knows which variations of your marketing message work
best. Gmail knows what your customers say, even in private. And it's all tied together with
your Google Account. But does this strategy have a problem? The most likely problem
Google will have is the "Big Brother" aspect, based on privacy concerns. Google will have to
be careful not to lose public confidence if it is to expand in the future.
EXERCISE ANSWERS - GOOGLE - ADVANCED
LISTENING EXERCISE 1:
1. $1.65 billion
2. Adwords are charged on the number of hits they get, and the advertiser can say how
much he wants to pay for every hit, starting at 5 cents. The more the advertiser is
prepared to pay for the hits the higher up the ranking page it goes.
3. Because of its ranking policy, but also it was fast because they kept the home page
simple, with no pictures.
4. Yahoo
5. A university research project.
GRAMMAR
MAKE: An agreement - a decision - an appointment – arrangements - a fuss - an impression
– a promise - a profit / loss - a mistake - an offer - up one's mind - sense
DO: A favour - the accounts - a deal – marketing / research - business with - well - damage
GRAMMAR EXERCISE:
1. If you want to use Adwords, I'm sure we can do a deal.
2. I have made a decision and will speak to the chairman
3. We would offer you discount but we don’t do enough business with you.
4. Tania, don’t make a fuss over such a trivial matter
5. Can you do me a favour and call the sales department at Google?
6. It’s always important to make a good impression.
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7. If you don’t make up your mind you will lose the opportunity.
8. We did well last year.
READING EXERCISE:
1 Made 2 Make 3 Done 4 Doing 5 Makes 6 Doing 7 Making
LISTENING EXERCISE 2:
1. Google Analytics
2. Having a lot of exposure is not as good as having the attention of the searching public
3. Personalising the relevance by finding out more about everyone
4. The most likely problem Google will have is the "Big Brother" aspect, based on privacy
concerns
5. To serve as venues for its ads
BUSINESS IDIOMS EXERCISE:
1. Recovered
2. Went bankrupt
3. Has single skill
4. Created a big obstacle
5. Approximate cost
6. Investing
7. Be acquired by
LESSON PLAN: GOOGLE – ADVANCED
INTRODUCTION: Start by asking students what they know about Google. Teacher (T) -
Students (SS) 5 mins
LISTENING EXERCISE 1: Next tell students they are going to hear a spokesman talking
about the origins of Google. They need to answer the questions at the end. Play the Listening
Exercise and ask students the questions. (T) - (SS) 10 mins
GRAMMAR: Ask the question: which is correct: We do business with Google - We make
business with Google? Do is correct Go through the examples and do the exercises that
follow. Ask students to read the questions and answers out loud. (S) – (T) 10 mins
READING: Find out what the students think about Google’s saying ‘do no evil.’ Go through
reading and ask students to read out loud, fill the gaps with the correct form of Make or Do.
(S) – (T) 10 mins
FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY: Ask the question, ‘how can you make this sentence: Give me
the file,’ more indirect and polite e.g. ‘Could you pass me the file please?’
Go through the examples and do the role-play exercise that follows. (S) – (T) 10 mins
CULTURAL AWARENESS POINT: Read the text on Inappropriate Emails and discuss
the questions that follow (SS) – (T) 10 mins
LISTENING EXERCISE 2: Ask the question, what is Google doing now? Tell students
they are going to hear the second part of the Listening Exercise. They need to answer
the questions at the end. Play the Listening Exercise (SS) – (T) 10 mins
BUSINESS IDIOMS: Ask the question, what does, ‘one trick pony’ mean? Elicit
answer. Go through the exercise. (SS) – (T) 10 mins
PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE: Get the students to read the words and sentences.
Drill where necessary (SS) – (T) 3 mins
ROLE PLAY: Split students into groups and get them to read their role cards and
prepare to discuss the situation. Make sure they practice the grammar and vocabulary
learnt in the lesson and to try and use the case study material in their argument. (SS) -
(SS) 10 mins
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