Death to Google?

For sometime now, many people, including me, jokingly, though with some fraction of truth, believed that Google would take over the world; Google Search turned into Gmail, Google Earth, G-Chat, Google Docs, Google Voice, Google Latitude, etc., and then of course Google embarked on a string of acquisitions including Picasa, Android, YouTube, and DoubleClick. There was not limit it seemed to Google’s primacy, ingenuity in churning out innovative products, and ability to leverage its intellectual capital and brand cache.

However, Google’s primacy, particularly in its marquee search engine, is now being challenged by Apple, a company that doesn’t even have a search engine product, and which has historically been a designer of hardware. Such is the topic of discussion in a recent article in 24/7 Wall St. (247wallst.com) entitled “How Apple Killed the Future of Search.”

Since inception in July 2008, the iPhone App store has had over 3 billion downloads and over 150,000 available apps. These apps have streamlined access to specific channels of information, such as the weather, financial and stock updates, and news sources. Furthermore, Google is not only used as a search engine, but also as the lazy man’s browser bar (internet portal); for example, Facebook.com was the most searched term on Google, despite the website’s rather obvious URL. With the advent of the Facebook app, lazy users will no longer be as apt to utilize Google to get to Facebook and other such websites.

The article goes on to suggest that Google’s answer to the iPhone and App Store, the Android operating system, actually poses no real threat to Apple, not because it is not a viable mobile operating system, but because it is failing to attract high-end app developers. Bluntly put, given the iPhone’s prevalence (50 million+ users) and app developer’s limited time, app developers are unlikely to commit time to the Android suite of products with a low penetration rate amongst consumers. To quote the article:

“What’s more, Apple will only improve the user’s experience at the App Store. Apple will make improvements to the way applications are designed, organized, distributed, and searched. These advances will only foster an increased rate of adoption. Apple’s future includes the certain popularity of the iPad, the iPhone’s availability on the Verizon Wireless network and an increasing number of wireless networks overseas. Additionally, available apps are expected to double, reaching 300,000 by the end of 2011.”

My sense is that while mobile apps will continue to challenge Google and the algorithmic search engine business, that Google and the like (e.g., Bing.com) will never fully be replaced. After all, how am I going to find answers to esoteric, but obviously critical, questions like “How old is Dick Clark?” or “How many balls can I actually fit into a 747…seats stripped out?” etc. Who knows, maybe this will lead Google into other businesses, and further their campaign for worldwide domination. “Google Plumbing Service” anyone? Probably too soon…

The original article can be found at:

http://247wallst.com/2010/04/08/how-apple-killed-the-future-of-search/