Larry Page to Face Several Challenges as Google's New CEO

Google co-founder Larry Page (News - Alert) quietly returned to the role of chief executive on Monday, a full decade after ending his first term as the search engine giant's CEO. Google announced earlier this year that Page would take over the reins for Eric Schmidt, who held the top role at the company from 2001 until today. Schmidt will stay on as the executive chairman of Google (News - Alert).

Although the transition is not earth shattering news – as Page was Google's CEO from 1998 until Schmidt's arrival in 2001 – it does suggest that Google may be looking to alter its direction and image.

With more than 24,000 employees, Google is no longer seen as the spirited and fearless young startup that it was known as a decade ago. Many industry analysts have speculated that the return of Page is, in a way, an effort by Google to return to its roots and start to think "big" again.

Apparently, Page has already initiated some changes since the January announcement of his impending succession. The Mercury News reported that Page has instructed the company's top execs to change the way that they run meetings to be more productive. Moreover, he told them to begin running these meetings in public areas to be more inclusive and accessible to lower-ranking Googlers.

The news source also said that Page has remained a "driving force" behind Google during the last decade, even though Schmidt was the public face of the organization. Page reportedly reviewed every hire over the last 10 years and was the voice behind many large-scale and highly-ambitious projects.

"It's certainly true that Eric is the public face, but inside Google, the founders are still very much the face of the company," Craig Silverstein, Google's first hire, said in January soon after the announcement of the switch.

For Page to change the image of Google, he will have to take on several challenges. The tech giant has launched a number of recent flops, including Google Wave, and is currently at the center of the hot button issue of user privacy.

Just last month, Google agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over claims that it violated its own privacy policies and used deceptive tactics during the rollout of its Buzz social networking service, which has failed to garner much positive consumer attention. Google has done a generally poor job of catching up to Facebook (News - Alert) in the social networking race.

In addition, Page will need to improve Google's standing with China, a major Web market that has no affinity for the search firm.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Janice McDuffee