Could Google be on the way Down? We can only hope...

[Ilya Feynberg]

I thought y'all might find this...well refreshing to say the least.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/20...tm?csp=usat.me

Do I personally believe that Microsoft & Yahoo in a joint operation will be able to at the very least take a large chunk of Google's market share away? Not too sure honestly...

BUT...

Understand this...that this increased competition, and the way that Microsoft and Yahoo are going, brings about a massive flow of opportunity to us advertisers. We're there already, and it's only improving for us.

Eventually, the increased competition = greater concern for their advertisers. Google hasn't had to worry about it much recently sitting atop their mountain the last few years. But now we're moving into a better ball game. I promise you that before long the serp companies will once again understand that they need to do whatever they can to cater to their customers...and advertisers are their customers...not searchers.

[paulgl]

Why do we only hope? Not me.

Google is light years ahead of anyone.
They have $25 billion in cash.
Google Chrome is gaining, IE is losing.
Google search gained on bing last month.
They just revamped the search, logo, and
got a ton of ink in the past 2 days.

Let's not forget that google owns the market
on video search. Most video searches on done
on google's youtube.

Oh and that little android thing...it's projected to bypass
the iphone in 1 year.

Hardly sounds like google is losing...

Paul

[Underground SEO]

I also don't think google are currently or will ever loose. People are too accustomed to using google, jsut think of all the references to people "googling it" etc, it would take a lot to change people's preferences regarding search engines.

[GeorgR.]

believe that Microsoft & Yahoo in a joint operation

No i dont. They could've done that over the last decade and they didn't. And, who uses Bing anyway?

But on a serious side-note, i dont think google is afraid of Bing/Yahoo, never was....facebook is where people go right now. I think Google's focus is there and not on some 2nd rate search engine like bing/yahoo.

If Google wants to survive/stay competitive then they will focus on the web3.0 aspects of the net..they are already WAY BEYOND simply being a "search engine". They already won that game long ago. Future is looking beyond this.

[John Hocking]

Bing is gaining on the others but Google's search still accounted for 59% of searches in the US

Google gets nearly 60 percent of U.S. searches- report | News Blog - CNET News

[JackPowers]

I really hope so, since my sites rank in the top in Bing.

Bing seems much easier to 'game' with quantity of links. Yahoo seems more focused on exact match domains.

So -> Exact match domain + tons of profile links -> domination

[Ernie Lonardo]

Its actually better having 1 popular SE that most use so I hope Google is always way ahead of the pack

Because say Bing catches up to Google and they have a 50 50 split.

Your going to get less traffic split between the 2 SE's because each SE ranks sites in different ways so your site will probably only rank well in 1 on the engines.

However as of now, you just neeed to focus on Google and youll get most of the traffic.

[JackPowers]

Originally Posted by Ernie Lonardo

Its actually better having 1 popular SE that most use so I hope Google is always way ahead of the pack

Because say Bing catches up to Google and they have a 50 50 split.

Your going to get less traffic split between the 2 SE's because each SE ranks sites in different ways so your site will probably only rank well in 1 on the engines.

However as of now, you just neeed to focus on Google and youll get most of the traffic.

It's much easier to rank well in Bing for the average internet marketer with a thin affiliate site. Google is a clever beast, Bing is dumb.

[Kendustin]

We can't say what is going to happen in future, maybe possible that google can get down but currently I don't think that it is loosing. Google is on the top and will remain on top for atleast 5 to 6 years. People are too used to google that there are less chances to go for other search engines.

[Lucid]

Once someone is at the top of the mountain, people only want to bring them down. Strange, especially since the people but them there in the first place, but that's the way it is.

> brings about a massive flow of opportunity to us advertisers.

Isn't there a massive flow of opportunity already? So I don't understand this.

> Eventually, the increased competition = greater concern for their advertisers.

Maybe you haven't been paying attention. Google is concerned for their advertisers, more than any other. That's one reason they are number one.

> But now we're moving into a better ball game.

Remains to be seen if we are moving into a better ball game. It's kind of late, 7th inning and Google up by seven runs on home field.

> Google hasn't had to worry about it much recently

Google is not a company to stand still. Even though they are far ahead of competitors, they are not resting on their laurels. Always improving while the others seem not so much. Again, that's another reason they are tops.

> and advertisers are their customers

The Google mentality is that the searchers are their customers. True, the advertisers bring in the cash.

The tone of your post suggests you are not happy being a Google advertiser and that a Yahoo-Bing merger can only help. Frankly, I see not much wrong with Google. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Any search engine wishing to compete with Google will have to be more like them. Remains to be seen if that will happen. If it does, I suppose you will not be happy with any of the major search engines.

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by John Hocking

Bing is gaining on the others but Google's search still accounted for 59% of searches in the US

Overall, bing lost market share in April.

I don't know why people can't grasp the fact that bing is faltering.

Each week, google gobbles something up. They are innovators.
They do not stand still. Google wants do dominate the online market in
all aspects. They want the browser. They are at the fore front of
cloud computing. Google has diversified itself in a way that MS has
never done. MS is a dinosaur. There are many reasons, like supply and
demand, but why do you think people will pay $500 for a share of google,
but $28 for MS and $16 for yahoo?

Bing and yahoo are DOA. They continue to lag.

Funny how nobody ever mentions Baidu.

Paul

[Tom Goodwin]

Originally Posted by John Hocking

Bing is gaining on the others but Google's search still accounted for 59% of searches in the US

Google gets nearly 60 percent of U.S. searches- report | News Blog - CNET News

Personally, I don't buy that 59% number.

According to my Google Analytics on sites if mine which are on the first page of each of Google, Yahoo and Bing, Google brings in 10x more traffic than Yahoo & Bing combined.

[antonio5429]

If anything facebook, would be considered a challenge LoL.

[Ilya Feynberg]

Originally Posted by paulgl

Why do we only hope? Not me.

Google is light years ahead of anyone.
They have $25 billion in cash.
Google Chrome is gaining, IE is losing.
Google search gained on bing last month.
They just revamped the search, logo, and
got a ton of ink in the past 2 days.

Let's not forget that google owns the market
on video search. Most video searches on done
on google's youtube.

Oh and that little android thing...it's projected to bypass
the iphone in 1 year.

Hardly sounds like google is losing...

Paul

That can only be temporary...and they're not losing...yet. They're just going to see an increase in someone fighting back, and sooner or later they will be beat. To say that Google will defy history and be tops forever is rubbish.

Originally Posted by fryerben

I also don't think google are currently or will ever loose. People are too accustomed to using google, jsut think of all the references to people "googling it" etc, it would take a lot to change people's preferences regarding search engines.

Again, unless you expect Google to defy it all and remain top dog forever, then they will sooner or later lose.

Originally Posted by Lucid

Once someone is at the top of the mountain, people only want to bring them down. Strange, especially since the people but them there in the first place, but that's the way it is.

> brings about a massive flow of opportunity to us advertisers.

Isn't there a massive flow of opportunity already? So I don't understand this.

> Eventually, the increased competition = greater concern for their advertisers.

Maybe you haven't been paying attention. Google is concerned for their advertisers, more than any other. That's one reason they are number one.

> But now we're moving into a better ball game.

Remains to be seen if we are moving into a better ball game. It's kind of late, 7th inning and Google up by seven runs on home field.

> Google hasn't had to worry about it much recently

Google is not a company to stand still. Even though they are far ahead of competitors, they are not resting on their laurels. Always improving while the others seem not so much. Again, that's another reason they are tops.

> and advertisers are their customers

The Google mentality is that the searchers are their customers. True, the advertisers bring in the cash.

The tone of your post suggests you are not happy being a Google advertiser and that a Yahoo-Bing merger can only help. Frankly, I see not much wrong with Google. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Any search engine wishing to compete with Google will have to be more like them. Remains to be seen if that will happen. If it does, I suppose you will not be happy with any of the major search engines.

I call BS on about half of this, mainly regarding Google giving a crap about their advertisers. Providing nifty tools and ease of use is one thing, screwing them completely is another.

This is coming from someone who loves the PPC game too, and used Adwords almost religiously for years with great success.

[Ilya Feynberg]

Originally Posted by antonio5429

If anything facebook, would be considered a challenge LoL.

Traffic numbers are just that...numbers. You still can't target prospects nearly the same way (as well) as you can through direct search.