Go or No-Go Call on Another Google Social Product After Google+ and Buzz
Company: Google
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
Google has launched consumer social products more than once, and none of them became a lasting success. Leadership now wants your recommendation: should Google make another attempt at social media?
Take a position and defend it. If you recommend going ahead, say what form the new attempt should take and why it would fare better than the earlier ones. If you recommend staying out, say what Google gives up by doing so.
```hint Define "social" for today
Social media looks very different from the era of Google's earlier attempts. Work out where people now spend their social time, and which of those needs is still underserved, before you ask what Google is uniquely placed to offer.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- What is driving the question: new advertising inventory, defending search and YouTube as attention shifts to social feeds and short video, or something else?
- Does "social media" mean a standalone network built on a friend graph, or do social features inside products Google already runs, such as YouTube or Photos, count as an attempt?
- Is acquiring an existing social platform on the table, or only building?
- How long is leadership willing to invest before expecting results, and in which markets?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A diagnosis of why Google's earlier social products failed, and what would have to be different this time.
- A view of how social media has changed (friend networks versus interest-based feeds, messaging, communities, creators) and where a gap remains.
- An honest inventory of Google's assets and liabilities in this market, including privacy trust, regulatory scrutiny and its record of shutting products down.
- A comparison of concrete options against explicit criteria, ending in a clear recommendation.
- Success metrics, decision checkpoints and the main risks.
### Follow-up Questions
- The first year brings plenty of sign-ups but little repeat use. What do you do?
- Creators and users know Google has retired many products. How would you win their commitment to a new social effort?
- Regulators already scrutinize Google's reach across search, Android and ads. How does that limit the ways you could bootstrap a social product?
Overview: A Google product manager strategy case on whether the company should make another push into social media after its earlier social products did not last. It tests reading how social media has changed, weighing Google's assets and liabilities, comparing entry options and making a defensible go or no-go call with metrics.