Can Google be De-Throned?

When you think of search typically one company’s name comes to mind: Google. It is hard to remember that there are even other search companies that exist despite the fact that Google’s market share has been declining in recent months (Molina, 2015). While Google still holds 63% of the search market the newly broken search alliance between Yahoo and Bing allows for two new competitors to begin reinventing the search game (Sterling, 2015). Already Yahoo has given Google healthy competition by inking a deal with Mozilla to be the exclusive search engine of Firefox (Lardinois, 2014). Bing also has the advantage of being the default search engine for Microsoft manufactured products such as the Xbox. However, it will take more than small wins to change the search landscape.

For marketers there are few tactics as effective as search marketing. Search marketing offers a captive audience that is directly seeking out your product. This is why within digital media search ads are typically the most effective(Ference, 2013). Additionally, with a bidded market place gives advertisers control over much they would be willing spend on certain search terms depending on their ROI. Businesses and marketers therefore have a firm stake in the future of search marketing.

Search represents human curiosity and there will always be new ways to explore and innovate curiosity. If the search companies can focus on longer term innovation over shorter term market gains there will be a chance for a new type of search company to take over. The way we find information in the future may be different and for businesses finding ways to add value to the experience over disruption will win out.

References
Ference, M. (2013). Search marketing. Hydraulics & Pneumatics

Lardinois, F. (2014). Yahoo will soon be the deafault search engine in Firefox. Tech Crunch. Retrieved from www.techcrunch.com.

Molina, B. Google search slipping in US market share. USA Today. Retrieved from www.usatoday.com

Sterling, G. Yahoo or Bing could now divorce before 10-year search deal expires. Search Engine Land. Retrieved from www.searchengineland.com