Is Google really scared of anything other than the term 'anti-trust'? :)
According to James Doran in the New York Post on June 14th, "co-founder Sergey Brin is so rattled by the launch of Microsoft's rival search engine that he has assembled a team of top engineers to work on urgent upgrades to his Web service."
So why does Bing have Google scared?
So why does Bing have Google scared?
- Apparently there is something about the search algorithm in Bing that has Brin concerned - and the fact that one of Google's co-founders is so hands-on regarding this particular competitor has industry insiders taking notice.
- Google and Yahoo! dominate the search market, with 60 and 20% market shares respectively, and Microsoft has been largely unsuccessful in competing - but Bing has been received favorably by critics, was launched with a gigantic marketing budget ($80-100M according to the Post), and early statistics show Bing increasing Microsoft's market share by two percentage points, to about 11 percent.
But 'Fear Grips Google' seems to be a bit of an overstatement by the Post at the moment, as Scott Kessler, senior analyst at Standard & Poor's and a Google specialist, notes the main motivations for consumers' choice in search is ease of use and habit - making Google harder to scare than an $80M marketing budget and favorable reviews.
While I've tried out Bing and find it to be quite user-friendly, the force of habit motivation that Kessler mentions is a difficult hurdle to overcome. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft proceeds in gaining market share once this initial marketing push phase is complete. Can they stay in the game, after setting the pace at $80-100M, to overcome this Google habit of ours?
Read 'Fear Grips Google' in the NY Post here:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06142009/business/fear_grips_google_174235.htm
While I've tried out Bing and find it to be quite user-friendly, the force of habit motivation that Kessler mentions is a difficult hurdle to overcome. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft proceeds in gaining market share once this initial marketing push phase is complete. Can they stay in the game, after setting the pace at $80-100M, to overcome this Google habit of ours?
Read 'Fear Grips Google' in the NY Post here:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06142009/business/fear_grips_google_174235.htm
1 comment:
I think Google may just be doing its due diligence in scoping out this potential competitor, rather than shaking in their boots the way the Post seems to imply. Of course the Post is prone to a little exaggeration here and there ... but also, early signs point to the possibility that Bing is only attracting curious passers-by and not new, dedicated users peeled off from Google or Yahoo. This piece on PaidContent.org draws the conclusion that visitors to Bing are merely "window shoppers" who are trying out the new tool but generally sticking loyally with their preferred search engine.
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