Larry Page ties Google bonuses to its social notworking strategy

THE RECENTLY ASCENDED CEO of the Internet and online advertising giant Google, Larry Page is tying the company's 2011 bonuses to the success of its social notworking strategy.

Page issued a memo to Google's staff last Friday, telling them that their bonuses will rise, or not, depending on "how well we perform against our strategy to integrate relationships, sharing and identity across our products." He said that bonuses will go up 25 per cent if the company is successful in its social networking efforts or fall 25 per cent if it is not.

As Page doubtlessly intended, this news will likely provide an incentive and focus the attention of many employees.

Even those not involved in Google's social projects, such as the recently revealed +1, which works much like the Facebook 'Like' button, will be held accountable for the success of the whole endeavor. Page wants all employees to push its social projects by testing them and getting their families and friends to sign up.

"We all have a stake in the success of this effort and this multiplier is designed to reflect that," Page wrote in the memo.

The memo was intended to be confidential, but was leaked to Business Insider. It announces the plan and highlights how it will affect different employees, depending upon whether they're on a Company Bonus Plan or Sales Bonus Plan.

Google has not been very successful with social notworking to date. Buzz failed to become the next Twitter. Wave was an interesting approach to collaborative work, but it gained little support and was eventually discontinued last year.

We don't think Page really expects Google's employees, families and friends to spark huge growth in the popularity of its social networking efforts, but rather we imagine that he wants to get that audience to help Google avoid its earlier missteps with Buzz and Wave to develop a winning product. µ