Evaluating a Google Return to Social Networking Through an Orkut Relaunch
Company: Twilio
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
Suppose you are a product manager at Google and you are asked whether Google should bring back Orkut, the social network it ran from 2004 until it shut the service down in 2014. Would you relaunch it? Give a clear recommendation and explain your reasoning.
```hint Find the reason to exist
Before deciding, name the user problem and the Google goal a revived Orkut would serve today, and what would draw people away from the apps where their friends already are. Then compare a relaunch with other ways Google could reach the same goal.
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### Clarifying Questions
- Does "bring back" mean relaunching the original Orkut experience, or a new Google social product that carries the Orkut name?
- Should the answer focus on the markets where Orkut was strongest, such as Brazil and India, or on a global launch?
- What should a social product do for Google: earn ad revenue, deepen engagement with Google accounts and services, or answer a specific competitor?
- Is buying an existing community app an acceptable alternative, or only building one?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A clear reading of what "bring back" means and of Google's goal for a social product, tied to how Google makes money.
- An honest look at why Orkut and Google's later social products faded, and at today's landscape of entrenched networks with strong network effects.
- Strategic options beyond yes or no (a full relaunch, a communities product, features inside existing Google products, an acquisition), compared on explicit criteria.
- A firm recommendation with the conditions that would change it, plus success metrics and kill criteria for any experiment.
- Risks such as moderation and safety, privacy rules, brand damage from another shutdown, and cannibalization of YouTube.
### Follow-up Questions
- If leadership decides to relaunch anyway, which market and user group would you start with, and what would version one include?
- What results after the first 90 days would make you shut it down, and how would you avoid it becoming another abandoned Google product?
- How would your answer change if Google's main goal were to defend YouTube against short-video competitors?
Overview: A product strategy question asking whether Google should relaunch Orkut, the social network it shut down in 2014. It tests reasoning about Google's goals, network effects and today's social landscape, comparing strategic alternatives, committing to a clear recommendation, and defining success metrics and kill criteria.