Relentless Pursuit

Posted on August 26, 2008
Filed Under Business, David Waldman, Gogimon, Google, Internet, Israel, Microsoft, Search, Searchbots, business trends, economy, high tech, investment, investors, search engines, search trends, startup, technology | Comments Off

Google continues to widen the gap between itself and all the wannabees clawing at the throne. Though it is the undisputed king of search engines, though it owns the lion’s share of the market, it doesn’t just rest on its laurels. The mobile cell phone market is its next arena.

Verizon Wireless has apparently signed a deal with Google that will automatically install Google search in all new Verizon phones. Google is relentlessly trying to close this type of deal. The particular move was meant more for the purpose of one upmanship over its competitors, than actually making money on new partnerships. This is actually the genius of Google who has correctly and strategically entered certain areas where making more money was not its prime concern.

It was very concerned about stopping others gaining momentum and leverage from new and interesting areas. Google even bought DoubleClick .com mainly to stop key rivals from buying it first. Incredibly enough Microsoft had the gall to accuse Google of violating anti-trust laws by trying to corner the market on all types of online advertising methods.

Microsoft, given its own history, should have been the last company, to accuse anybody of anti-trust! They were, however, speaking out frustration having correctly understood that the purchase was as much about weakening Microsoft as about strengthening Google. DoubleClick was one of the first companies to representing websites selling advertising space to marketers. It was very different and even competitively damaging to Google’s Adword/Adsense program. Google just bought it outright. After the purchase Google considerably weakened double click which made sense as far as Google was concerned. The main objective had been achieved the competitors could no longer buy the company. Many also believe that Google will weaken Digg should it end up buying it.

The next frontier seems to be the mobile world where many rumors abound as to what Google is up to. The initial partnership will place Google as the Search component of all Verizon Phones. This is not completely new as an Israeli cell phone company has been advertising its search capabilities. Its search resource is Google, of course. This type of deals will likely further demoralize companies like Yahoo and Microsoft, that’s exactly what Google wants. Such macro-strategic thinking works for Google, as it constantly outpaces the competition on search queries. It seems this strategy is to continue and the longer Google can pursue it, the more its position as the king in its field is solidified.

David Waldman

[Mr. Waldman is Managing Director of Gogimon Advanced Search Channel, an Israeli search startup]

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