Strategy question
Should Google continue offering Google Earth?
- Strategy
- Hard
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What this question tests
Tests evaluating whether to sunset a mature, low-monetization product, weighing strategic value (data, ecosystem tie-ins) against maintenance cost.
How to approach it
- Clarify the evaluation criteria: direct revenue, strategic value to other products (like Maps data), or user goodwill, since Google Earth likely scores differently on each.
- Assess direct revenue: Google Earth has minimal direct monetization compared to Google Maps or Search, making a pure revenue case weak.
- Assess strategic value: Earth's 3D imagery and mapping data likely feed into or share infrastructure with Google Maps and other geospatial products, creating indirect value beyond the standalone app.
- Assess user and brand value: Earth serves education, journalism, and public-interest use cases (like disaster response mapping) that generate goodwill disproportionate to its usage numbers.
- Weigh maintenance cost against this indirect value: if the cost is low relative to shared infrastructure already funded by Maps, continuing makes sense even without direct monetization.
- Conclude with a reasoned recommendation: continue, but as a low-investment product leveraging shared geospatial infrastructure rather than a standalone growth priority.
What a strong answer includes
- Separates direct revenue from indirect strategic value (data and infrastructure sharing with Maps), rather than judging Earth on revenue alone.
- Identifies real, known use cases (education, disaster response) that justify goodwill value beyond usage metrics.
- Uses illustrative numbers as assumptions: assume Earth's dedicated maintenance cost is low because it shares infrastructure with Maps, making the incremental cost of continuing small.
- Reaches a clear, reasoned recommendation instead of a noncommittal answer.
Common mistakes
- Judging Google Earth purely on direct revenue without considering shared infrastructure or strategic value.
- Giving a flat yes or no without a clear evaluation framework.
- Ignoring the product's known public-interest and educational use cases.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you measure Earth's strategic value to Maps concretely?
- What would justify actually shutting it down?
- How would you reduce its maintenance cost further?
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Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 4: Discovery and strategy for AI products
- Chapter 9: Prove it paid off: outcomes, economics, and pricing
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop