Microsoft has released its latest iteration of its search engine platform, Bing, into the marketplace in an attempt to take on Google.
Some pundits are probably asking “why bother?” such is the strength of the Google brand. With between 70-90 percent of the marketshare in most western countries, to try and knock it off its perch seems almost impossible, and would be a very expensive exercise. It’s current rival, Yahoo, only has about 15-20 percent share depending on the country, and that hasn’t varied for a long time, and doesn’t look like changing soon. Sure, others have tried to take a chunk off Google, but have failed. Wolfram is the most recent example of a search engine device, is too narrowly focussed in its objectives to have any impact on Google. So is it a fait acompli? Is there no hope for any fledgling entrepreneur – or current player for that matter – to take on Google’s seeming monopoly and win? Absolutely! I am of the belief that it is only a matter of time before Google is taken down a peg or two. What needs to happen is for one of the other companies to give their tool something that blows the company away.Think about it. If I was to say to you, “hey try this search engine, it’s better than Google because of X, Y, Z” and you tried it, and I was right, then like a virus the word would spread. That is all it will take. I’m not saying Bing will do this, because I haven’t had the chance to have a good play with it yet, but what I am saying is to all those cynics out there – it can be done. And I believe it will only be a matter of time before some starts eating into Google’s marketshare.