FACEBOOK IS CONDUCTING AN ALL-OUT ASAULT ON GOOGLE.

                                                     LARRY PAGE. CEO Google.



FROM BUSINESS INSIDER:

Facebook is conducting an all-out assault on Google. It just launched

embeddable videos and a new ad network. Those businesses will compete with YouTube and Google's DoubleClick display ad business.

Facebook has become a juggernaut in video lately, and this will only bolster its position. With its incredible data on users, it will be an attractive destination for video ads and display ads, weakening Google's display business. 

Google looks like it is basically helpless to stop Facebook. It doesn't have an answer for Facebook. It tried and failed with Google+. Google doesn't own a "stream" like Facebook's News Feed, where it can stick high-quality brand advertising right into what people are reading and doing.

From the outside looking in, as Facebook gets stronger, it looks like Google is running in the wrong direction. It looks like CEO Larry Page has handed off responsibility for the company at a critical time. 

While Mark Zuckerberg zeros in on real opportunity like mobile ads in the Facebook app, video plays in the app, monetizing Instagram, and building platforms with WhatsApp and Facebook messenger, Larry Page is looking at more pie-in-the-sky stuff like robotics and self driving cars. 

Robots and self-driving cars are cool, and we should all be thankful that Google is willing to experiment with them. However, it's not clear they'll ever be huge businesses.

It feels like Page is bored with the nuts and bolts of running an advertising-based internet company. He seems to think things like Instagram or Snapchat are too prosaic. He isn't going to dive into the display ad business, pushing Google's business to the next level. He'd rather work on changing the world.

(Facebook)I'm coming for you Larry...Zuckerberg, meanwhile, is still interested in pushing his company forward, even if it means working on smaller projects like video ads. 

To be clear, Google is not suddenly going to go kaput. It's not at risk of going out of business. It will continue to mint money. But, it's hard to see where big growth is going to come from.

Mobile is neutralizing the power of the search business. People are using apps more and more for their searches.