• by Shankar Gupta , January 15, 2005

Google Thursday announced the release of Google Mini, a search engine hardware device for the Web sites and internal networks of small businesses.

"In terms of where there's a need for a quality search, we see it across the board," said Google Product Manager Matt Glotzbach. "The smaller and medium business market has largely been unserved."

Greg Sterling, a local media analyst for the Kelsey Group, said that moving into the small and medium business market was a logical move for Google. "There is probably a market that is in the middle of that [small-to-medium enterprise] market that is the target for this. The very small businesses are less likely to use something like this, but those that have certain revenues--certain kind of volume of document production or information production--are going to be more inclined," he said. "Regardless of how you slice it, the [small and medium business] market is a very large market." Sterling said that the market that would likely be interested in such a product was around the 7 million mark.

The Google Mini is a smaller, cheaper version of the Google Search Appliance that has been sold to larger businesses who have massive internal networks and public Web pages to search. The mini can search up to 50,000 documents--as compared to the regular version's 15 million--and costs just under $5,000. The larger search appliance starts at $32,000.

The mini can be used by both employees and customers of a small or medium business, to search either the outside-facing Web page or the company intranet. Unlike the free "search this page with Google" function that companies can use, the Google Mini will display no sponsored links, and won't even include the Google name.

"This is really just about helping people find information. That's the primary focus here," said Glotzbach.

According to Sterling, the small-to-medium business market is a tricky one to reach, given its size and fragmented nature. "Google has to push this to market and make [small-to-medium businesses] aware, and make them see the benefits of this appliance," he said. "Getting the attention of folks is the challenging thing always when you're talking about small businesses."

But Glotzbach said that Google would rely on its strong brand and solely online marketing to carry the product to the market. "Google has--obviously--a great brand name and is synonymous with search," he said. "We're really relying on word of mouth and buzz." The product is sold exclusively on Google's online store.

Sterling said that a side-benefit to the Google Mini is that it may help to further differentiate Google from its search competitors, and reinforce customer loyalty. "To the extent that this penetrates the marketplace, it may have the effect of reinforcing their leadership in the marketplace," he said. "In the big picture, anything that these companies do to differentiate from one another reinforces user loyalty."