Australian IT: MICROSOFT’S new search engine may rival or even surpass the world’s most popular web tool Google, Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates said.
In Bangkok to unveil a deal with the Thai government, Mr Gates said his company was developing products to make the internet easier to use.
“The coolest company right now in terms of new things is Google, which does a search product which is very good,” Mr Gates said.
“I think we’ll surprise them by showing how we can do a search that’s as good or better than they do. Consumers benefit from that type of competition.”
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Is it all hyperbole? Does Google enjoy too much critical mass advantage or can a better product take the marketshare away? I’m inclined to think it would take a revolutionary step forward in search technology to beat Google, just as Google’s technology one-up’ed the previous search engine leaders. Google’s brand carries a lot of power and reputation. I’ve never heard such overwhelming good will and trust as expressed by Google’s current users. Nearly everyone I speak to equates Google with quality products, clever design with users in mind and good customer service. Can you think of many other Internet companies that enjoy such widespread positive reputation, especially at Google’s size and market position?
Generally when a company is as large as Google a user backlash occurs due to the monopolistic position the company enjoys. People like to fight the status quo – think Microsoft and the “statement” people make when they don’t use Windows or Internet Explorer. Monopolistic companies begin to “step on toes”, take advantage of their size and power, and the focus on the customer can start to waver as market dominance breeds complacency. Of course this is not always the case and Google, for now, certainly seems to be doing everything right.
I would disagree — I think when it comes to searching for information…brand loyalty isn’t important — what is important is finding the info you are looking for. Altavista was the search engine of 1995…than Yahoo! came….now people enjoy Google — I feel sorry for anybody who purchased Google stock. Google was good back in the day, I actually found info I was looking for…lately its nothing more than junk pages…I tend to use other search engines to find what i am looking for these days.
I am looking forward to Microsoft’s lauch….I just want a search engine that provides information no e-commerce crap. I had an idea once to organize the world’s information by setting up my own directory/search engine… the only way a website could be listed in my search engine/directory is if they follow the very strict layout formats and such….basically all pages would look the same..just have different content — it would provide only information no websites trying to sell you stuff. How would it make money you ask? Easy! People would pay a yearly subscription to use it…afterall if they are guarantee quality content…I sure would sign up… if it meant…no porn, no websites with banner ads all over them, no link farms…just quality websites that all have the same look and feel (so it would make my job easier…) but with different content.
Jason, it sounds like you’ve described WikiPedia – only it’s free! Anyway, I don’t think your idea is feasible. People wouldn’t pay the annual fee. Always good to think outside the box though…
I’m pretty pissed with Microsoft because I had a Hotmail account and they didn’t let me forward my e-mail to my Gmail account. This is obviously so that Microsoft can squeeze more advertising revenue from me. Even Gmail and Yahoo don’t do that. Google seems a lot more honest than Microsoft.
I second that Mojo, I had the same problem with my Hotmail and gmail accounts. I think you can get redirect features with hotmail – but only if you pay them a premium fee.
It’s onerous to find knowledgeable folks on this topic, but you sound like you recognize what you’re speaking about! Thanks