Setting the quality, or lack thereof, of the Pixel 2 aside for the moment, you make a superb point about what this means for Google Advertising. I saw these ads everywhere, on the web, on TV, in print. For this much publicity to generate this little in sales only means one thing. The Emperor has no clothes. Google advertising is not as effective as, well, advertised. And THAT is going to be a far bigger problem for them in the long run than another in a long line of hardware and software initiatives that were abandoned after a few years. From what I've read there is a growing uneasiness about how effective web advertising is among companies that place ads. This cannot do anything but deepen those reservations, and tighten their wallets
I don't personally believe most advertising is actually effective. I just think that everyone involved has decided to play the game that it's effective and just like the old phrase, "no one ever got fired for choosing IBM", people in marketing are too scared to drop advertising, especially web advertising. In addition, advertising agencies have a vested interest in placing as much advertising as they can because they work on a percentage of all the buys.
In my own case, aside from an announcement of a record, book, movie or video release, I can't think of anything I've ever bought directly based upon an ad, aside from ads announcing sales.
Advertising 101 teaches you that most advertising is simply about brand choice. Advertising won't get someone to buy something they don't need or want (although a look at many people's garages or the growth of the storage business would say otherwise), but if it's something they do want, advertising can get them to choose a particular brand.
As far as Google ads are concerned, I don't know if they're effective or not, but if they're not and agencies start taking dollars away from that type of media and put it back into more traditional advertising like radio, magazines and newspapers, that would be fantastic for those dying industries.
I think the biggest problem with Google ads is that they destroy the look and performance of many sites and they frequently lead to sites that can't be trusted. So I think many people are afraid to click on them and just find them an annoyance. And as far as paid position is concerned in search results, I NEVER click on those. I always scroll down to the direct site link.
What is the purpose of writing a Google bashing article other than it makes some people feel good to knock one of Apple’s competitors? Is there some worry about the iPhone X that AI feels it necessary to trash the Pixel?
Considering this is an Apple centric site I’d love to see an editorial about, say, Siri and what Apple can and should do to make it better or maybe a discussion on the rumored software changes and how Apple can improve their software processes and quality going forward. Or maybe a piece about what would be good to see software wise in the future for the HomePod. A Siri intent for music and podcasts? The ability to recognize different voices and offer multi user support? These are just a few examples. There are plenty of editorials and pieces about Apple that could generate good discussion. I wish more rumor sites would run pieces that could generate this kind of discussion. 9to5Mac does on occasion but they seem to be the only one.
When someone else starts criticizing the shortcomings of Apple’s competition, let me know. Until then, AI is just filling an empty niche. And Apple’s shortcomings are discussed ad nauseum here and elsewhere. That niche is crowded.
So again this is just about making some fanboys feel good. Are you that insecure about Apple?
Someone shared this article with me and I couldn't help but chuckle, especially at your nitpick of a single portrait mode picture that didn't completely turn out.
It's not a master of sales and isn't leading some glorious Google revolution, but the Pixel 2 is an excellent phone. That being said, QC on some of the initial LG made Pixel 2 XL devices seemed to be lacking with some display issues early on. Of course that seems to have been remedied, as well, Google offering a 2 year warranty, and rightfully so.
Compared to its rival, the iPhone 8, it has a better display, speakers, camera, battery and AI. Android runs buttery smooth with no hitches what so ever. It also doesn't heavily throttle when performing graphically intensive tasks:
When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch. The A11 is severely thermally constrained and is only able to achieve these scores when the devices are cold. Indeed as seen from the smaller score of the iPhone 8, the SoC isn’t able to sustain maximum performance for even one benchmark run before having to throttle.
Someone shared this article with me and I couldn't help but chuckle, especially at your nitpick of a single portrait mode picture that didn't completely turn out.
It's not a master of sales and isn't leading some glorious Google revolution, but the Pixel 2 is an excellent phone. That being said, QC on some of the initial LG made Pixel 2 XL devices seemed to be lacking with some display issues early on. Of course that seems to have been remedied, as well, Google offering a 2 year warranty, and rightfully so.
Compared to its rival, the iPhone 8, it has a better display, speakers, camera, battery and AI. Android runs buttery smooth with no hitches what so ever. It also doesn't heavily throttle when performing graphically intensive tasks:
When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch. The A11 is severely thermally constrained and is only able to achieve these scores when the devices are cold. Indeed as seen from the smaller score of the iPhone 8, the SoC isn’t able to sustain maximum performance for even one benchmark run before having to throttle.
Ironic, as Apple used to lead in sustained performance. Now they're well behind.
And some comparison photos:
The full quote paints a different story, but thanks for playing:
"When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch. The A11 is severely thermally constrained and is only able to achieve these scores when the devices are cold. Indeed as seen from the smaller score of the iPhone 8, the SoC isn’t able to sustain maximum performance for even one benchmark run before having to throttle. Unfortunately this also applies to current and last generation Exynos and Kirin SoCs as both shed great amount of performance after only a few minutes. I’ve addressed this issue and made a great rant about it in our review of the Kirin 970. For this reason going forward AnandTech is going to distinguish between Peak and Sustained scores across all 3D benchmarks. This however needs to be tested on commercial devices as the QRD platform isn’t a thermally representative phone for the SoC, so until that happens, we’ll have to just estimate based on power consumption where the Snapdragon 845 ends up."
So, the results of the 845 in a real phone may, unfortunately, throttle.
Apple launches A12 in new iPhone(s) in September; might be a few Android OS devices with the 845 by then, but doubt that "lead" will hold up.
The pixel 2 is only sold in a few countries which are Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Puerto Rico, Spain, United Kingdom and United States, so you have to take that into account with the sales numbers.
At the end of the day the pixel 2 has been rated as a superb phone, and most of those educated in this business seems to carry one and use it as their main driver.
Educated in what business? Shilling? I’ve seen like 3 pixel phones in the wild in NYC.
Everybody in the tech industry knows the Pixel 2 is the best smartphone camera
Looks no better than any photo shot on a modern smartphone to me.
It’s actually a horribly framed picture shot in flat light, like someone went out of his way to make the picture suck. The first thing that makes the picture not suck is the photograph, not the equipment
photographing a scene with lots of snow is always a challenge in contrast. That picture fails on that point alone
Someone shared this article with me and I couldn't help but chuckle, especially at your nitpick of a single portrait mode picture that didn't completely turn out.
It's not a master of sales and isn't leading some glorious Google revolution, but the Pixel 2 is an excellent phone. That being said, QC on some of the initial LG made Pixel 2 XL devices seemed to be lacking with some display issues early on. Of course that seems to have been remedied, as well, Google offering a 2 year warranty, and rightfully so.
Compared to its rival, the iPhone 8, it has a better display, speakers, camera, battery and AI. Android runs buttery smooth with no hitches what so ever. It also doesn't heavily throttle when performing graphically intensive tasks:
When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch. The A11 is severely thermally constrained and is only able to achieve these scores when the devices are cold. Indeed as seen from the smaller score of the iPhone 8, the SoC isn’t able to sustain maximum performance for even one benchmark run before having to throttle.
Ironic, as Apple used to lead in sustained performance. Now they're well behind.
And some comparison photos:
The full quote paints a different story, but thanks for playing:
"When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch. The A11 is severely thermally constrained and is only able to achieve these scores when the devices are cold. Indeed as seen from the smaller score of the iPhone 8, the SoC isn’t able to sustain maximum performance for even one benchmark run before having to throttle. Unfortunately this also applies to current and last generation Exynos and Kirin SoCs as both shed great amount of performance after only a few minutes. I’ve addressed this issue and made a great rant about it in our review of the Kirin 970. For this reason going forward AnandTech is going to distinguish between Peak and Sustained scores across all 3D benchmarks. This however needs to be tested on commercial devices as the QRD platform isn’t a thermally representative phone for the SoC, so until that happens, we’ll have to just estimate based on power consumption where the Snapdragon 845 ends up."
So, the results of the 845 in a real phone may, unfortunately, throttle.
Apple launches A12 in new iPhone(s) in September; might be a few Android OS devices with the 845 by then, but doubt that "lead" will hold up.
Read it again: "When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch"
The Snapdragon 845 might be in a league of its own:
Overall the Adreno 630 more than delivers as it’s able to double-down on the Adreno 540’s efficiency advantage. Qualcomm current generations of SoCs are simply unmatched and the gap is so wide that I do not expect upcoming rival solutions to be able to catch up this year.
-Anandtech
You moved the god damn goalpost bud, every year dumbasses like you take the référence design and crap out something like that and every year fracking score turns out the same, thermally constrained to a much lower score.
The pixel 2 is only sold in a few countries which are Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Puerto Rico, Spain, United Kingdom and United States, so you have to take that into account with the sales numbers.
At the end of the day the pixel 2 has been rated as a superb phone, and most of those educated in this business seems to carry one and use it as their main driver.
Educated in what business? Shilling? I’ve seen like 3 pixel phones in the wild in NYC.
Everybody in the tech industry knows the Pixel 2 is the best smartphone camera
Looks no better than any photo shot on a modern smartphone to me.
What, you aren't impressed with the picture of a grey car parked next to grey snow under a grey sky? Oh, some of those colors should be white? Never mind.
It seems like the intention of this article (aptly: "piece") was to assert that Google's advertising doesn't work, but the article speaks out of both sides of its mouth.
If the Pixel is a lackluster piece of hardware ("a turd"), then even the world's best advertising won't work, especially -- as the article points out -- when one considers the limited target demographic (high-end, premium priced Android).
The Pixel may be a turd as compared to say an iPhone, but it's one of the best Android phones on the market. The Pixel's sales are proportionally low relative to the device's quality ranking withing the overall Android market.
Taking this one step further, I think it also shows that Android users don't care about security or getting regular system updates either. Let's be fair here, it's not as if the low end Nexus models sold any better than the Pixels. I think it's fair to question the value of Google's advertising.
I’ll cheer on Google’s mobile failings as much as the next Apple fan, but come on AI...are you *really* going so far as to claim that the Pixel’s failure is proof that Google Ads are wholly ineffective?! That is some nauseating inductive logic. If that were remotely true, Alphabet couldn't have a market cap always nipping at Apple’s heels. By all means, fault the Pixel on its merits, and make the very fair claim that even free and unlimited Google Ads couldn’t deliver its success. But please, don’t make specious claims like this.
What is the purpose of writing a Google bashing article other than it makes some people feel good to knock one of Apple’s competitors? Is there some worry about the iPhone X that AI feels it necessary to trash the Pixel?
Considering this is an Apple centric site I’d love to see an editorial about, say, Siri and what Apple can and should do to make it better or maybe a discussion on the rumored software changes and how Apple can improve their software processes and quality going forward. Or maybe a piece about what would be good to see software wise in the future for the HomePod. A Siri intent for music and podcasts? The ability to recognize different voices and offer multi user support? These are just a few examples. There are plenty of editorials and pieces about Apple that could generate good discussion. I wish more rumor sites would run pieces that could generate this kind of discussion. 9to5Mac does on occasion but they seem to be the only one.
I micturate in the general direction of what you wrote...
So what's the excuse for the poor sales of their low-end Nexus Phones? You know before they decided there was no money in doing that, and figured they would be better off copying Apple and releasing the Pixel phones. Nothing has changed.
If something is crap -- high- or low-end, then sales of that crap will be poor ... regardless of advertising. The article weirdly tries to both assert that Google is bad at advertising while also claiming Android hardware is crap.
So, to answer your question, the "excuse for the poor sales of their low-end Nexus phones" is, also, that they are crap. This, also, doesn't mean Google sucks at advertising.
But, but, but, the purpose of advertising is to convince the public that your crap doesn’t stink... Google failed at that. People held their noses and walked away... Google sucked at advertising the Pixel phone...big time!
I was drawn to this article because I use Google Adwords for my business, and I don't read Android based sites. I have always thought Adwords was overpriced for the results I was getting and this article supports that.
Your instincts are right. Google AdWords are overpriced and ineffective. Some other things Google offers are a much better deal.
I agree that Google Pixel phones are not really a success, but calling Android a failure is plain BS. It is the most successful mobile OS on the planet with a market share of 75% and it is generating massively ad income for Google. Would love to have such a failure in my product portfolio.
Except that Android didn't change anything for Google. It was doing the same thing on Windows PCs, on phones running Linux, Symbian, Windows Mobile and iPhones. All Android does is cost Google more money to manage, without delivering any additional advantage. In fact, the largest market for Android phones gives Google nothing, because its services are blocked in the PRC. And by promoting Android, Google has been edged out of many key iOS services, including Maps. It's now installed only by user choice, which dropped Google's iOS presence from 100% to less than a third.
When you argue how Android must have helped Google, consider that a) it wasn't free to do and b) it wasn't without cost.
Besides China I would add that Google also erred in making Android available to just about anyone with respect to Amazon. They seem to be building their own eco-system some what at odds with Google. Amazon will probably be a stronger competitor than google (but it will take a while).
Considering this is an Apple centric site I’d love to see an editorial about, say, Siri and what Apple can and should do to make it better or maybe a discussion on the rumored software changes and how Apple can improve their software processes and quality going forward. Or maybe a piece about what would be good to see software wise in the future for the HomePod. A Siri intent for music and podcasts? The ability to recognize different voices and offer multi user support? These are just a few examples. There are plenty of editorials and pieces about Apple that could generate good discussion. I wish more rumor sites would run pieces that could generate this kind of discussion. 9to5Mac does on occasion but they seem to be the only one.
Considering Siri really didn't get much better I don't think there will be more editorials from DED on this subject. I've definitely heard other AI writers bemoan Siri's limitations on the Podcast.
I’ll cheer on Google’s mobile failings as much as the next Apple fan, but come on AI...are you *really* going so far as to claim that the Pixel’s failure is proof that Google Ads are wholly ineffective?! That is some nauseating inductive logic. If that were remotely true, Alphabet couldn't have a market cap always nipping at Apple’s heels. By all means, fault the Pixel on its merits, and make the very fair claim that even free and unlimited Google Ads couldn’t deliver its success. But please, don’t make specious claims like this.
It is Google failure making by itself. Google enabled the making of vast amounts of cheap Android smartphones. What is the message Google has successfully created in Android buyers' mind? They think smartphone should cost much less than iPhone. It is the same message Microsoft created in the minds of Windows user, a PC should not cost as much as a Mac.
What is the purpose of writing a Google bashing article other than it makes some people feel good to knock one of Apple’s competitors? Is there some worry about the iPhone X that AI feels it necessary to trash the Pixel?
Since no other website ever publishes criticisms of Apple’s competitors and all we ever see are articles predicting Apple’s eventual demise I don’t see the problem here. Mr. Dilger writes well and I have seen his AI work pop up on news media sites from time to time. It’s about time the competition got bashed instead of being declared Apple killers all the time. If all these Apple killers’ products are so good then why does Apple continue to thrive and grow?
If you want to read about and discuss Apple’s failures all day long then head on over to 9TO5Mac or MacRumors.
I've definitely have heard positive and negative things about Android/Google at the Verge. I loved Niley Patel's video reviews of both the HomePod and iPhoneX. Even though I didn't buy an iPhoneX he made a comment that stuck with me to the effect "The iPhone X just feels like the future of smarts phones". Deiter Bohn was too fawning in his praise of the Pixel 2 and it was Vlad Savov also at theVerge who rebutted his review.
Also in terms of criticism of the Pixel, this article at Android Authority is great. https://www.androidauthority.com/pixel-2-xl-issues-so-far-813985/ Saved me from buying a Pixel as my second phone even though I would love to have direct access to the Google Assistant. Went iPhone 8+ instead.
Someone shared this article with me and I couldn't help but chuckle, especially at your nitpick of a single portrait mode picture that didn't completely turn out.
It's not a master of sales and isn't leading some glorious Google revolution, but the Pixel 2 is an excellent phone. That being said, QC on some of the initial LG made Pixel 2 XL devices seemed to be lacking with some display issues early on. Of course that seems to have been remedied, as well, Google offering a 2 year warranty, and rightfully so.
Compared to its rival, the iPhone 8, it has a better display, speakers, camera, battery and AI. Android runs buttery smooth with no hitches what so ever. It also doesn't heavily throttle when performing graphically intensive tasks:
When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch. The A11 is severely thermally constrained and is only able to achieve these scores when the devices are cold. Indeed as seen from the smaller score of the iPhone 8, the SoC isn’t able to sustain maximum performance for even one benchmark run before having to throttle.
Ironic, as Apple used to lead in sustained performance. Now they're well behind.
And some comparison photos:
The full quote paints a different story, but thanks for playing:
"When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch. The A11 is severely thermally constrained and is only able to achieve these scores when the devices are cold. Indeed as seen from the smaller score of the iPhone 8, the SoC isn’t able to sustain maximum performance for even one benchmark run before having to throttle. Unfortunately this also applies to current and last generation Exynos and Kirin SoCs as both shed great amount of performance after only a few minutes. I’ve addressed this issue and made a great rant about it in our review of the Kirin 970. For this reason going forward AnandTech is going to distinguish between Peak and Sustained scores across all 3D benchmarks. This however needs to be tested on commercial devices as the QRD platform isn’t a thermally representative phone for the SoC, so until that happens, we’ll have to just estimate based on power consumption where the Snapdragon 845 ends up."
So, the results of the 845 in a real phone may, unfortunately, throttle.
Apple launches A12 in new iPhone(s) in September; might be a few Android OS devices with the 845 by then, but doubt that "lead" will hold up.
I like what Rene Ritchie said. One third of the time he finds the photos from the iPhoneX the best, one third of the time he favors the photos from the Pixel 2's camera, and lastly he preferred the photos from his DSLR. All these smartphone photos are much better than 5 years ago. Google's single lens Camera seems to do better than the iPhone8. Google would like you to believe that it is because of their AI - I think a lot of it is due to the larger sensor that they have.
Comments
In my own case, aside from an announcement of a record, book, movie or video release, I can't think of anything I've ever bought directly based upon an ad, aside from ads announcing sales.
Advertising 101 teaches you that most advertising is simply about brand choice. Advertising won't get someone to buy something they don't need or want (although a look at many people's garages or the growth of the storage business would say otherwise), but if it's something they do want, advertising can get them to choose a particular brand.
As far as Google ads are concerned, I don't know if they're effective or not, but if they're not and agencies start taking dollars away from that type of media and put it back into more traditional advertising like radio, magazines and newspapers, that would be fantastic for those dying industries.
I think the biggest problem with Google ads is that they destroy the look and performance of many sites and they frequently lead to sites that can't be trusted. So I think many people are afraid to click on them and just find them an annoyance. And as far as paid position is concerned in search results, I NEVER click on those. I always scroll down to the direct site link.
"When we’re looking at competitor devices we see only the the iPhone X able to compete with the last generation Snapdragon 835 devices – however with a catch. The A11 is severely thermally constrained and is only able to achieve these scores when the devices are cold. Indeed as seen from the smaller score of the iPhone 8, the SoC isn’t able to sustain maximum performance for even one benchmark run before having to throttle. Unfortunately this also applies to current and last generation Exynos and Kirin SoCs as both shed great amount of performance after only a few minutes. I’ve addressed this issue and made a great rant about it in our review of the Kirin 970. For this reason going forward AnandTech is going to distinguish between Peak and Sustained scores across all 3D benchmarks. This however needs to be tested on commercial devices as the QRD platform isn’t a thermally representative phone for the SoC, so until that happens, we’ll have to just estimate based on power consumption where the Snapdragon 845 ends up."
So, the results of the 845 in a real phone may, unfortunately, throttle.
Apple launches A12 in new iPhone(s) in September; might be a few Android OS devices with the 845 by then, but doubt that "lead" will hold up.
photographing a scene with lots of snow is always a challenge in contrast. That picture fails on that point alone
You kbow that but prefer yapping.
Taking this one step further, I think it also shows that Android users don't care about security or getting regular system updates either. Let's be fair here, it's not as if the low end Nexus models sold any better than the Pixels. I think it's fair to question the value of Google's advertising.
Your instincts are right. Google AdWords are overpriced and ineffective. Some other things Google offers are a much better deal.
I have no love for Google but I don’t really need to write a lengthy article about it.
I wonder what kind of car he drives as Apple does not make one.
I wonder what kind of TV he uses as Apple does not make those either.
Coffe Maker? No, Apple doesn’t make those.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/17/01/07/is-apple-getting-siri-ous-in-the-face-of-amazons-alexa-echo
Considering Siri really didn't get much better I don't think there will be more editorials from DED on this subject.
I've definitely heard other AI writers bemoan Siri's limitations on the Podcast.
Even though I didn't buy an iPhoneX he made a comment that stuck with me to the effect "The iPhone X just feels like the future of smarts phones". Deiter Bohn was too fawning in his praise of the Pixel 2 and it was Vlad Savov also at theVerge who rebutted his review.
Also in terms of criticism of the Pixel, this article at Android Authority is great. https://www.androidauthority.com/pixel-2-xl-issues-so-far-813985/
Saved me from buying a Pixel as my second phone even though I would love to have direct access to the Google Assistant. Went iPhone 8+ instead.