Why Google will never be defeated
Hot of the heels of an announcement by Microsoft and its intention to bid nearly $50 billion for internet dinosaur Yahoo, it got me thinking of the shape of the Internet if the deal were to take place (which, as I write this, will probably not go ahead, but Microsoft won’t give up so easily). In my slightly unprofessional view, I don’t think it will change the shape of the Internet at all.
It really hit home for me today on the way to work, whilst listening to an advertisement for a dentistry company, they quickly listed their contact details and they also told the listeners to ‘Google’ for their company name. It then dawned on me that, for me and nearly all of the Internet community, Googling’ has become the official Internet synonym for web-searching. I have also noticed that at my work, when most people go up to someone and ask to do a web search, they usually ask ‘Could you Google something for me?’. Improper asking skills aside, it just shows you how much influence Google has in modern culture. Google has way too much influence for the community for even a Microsoft/Yahoo joint company to put even a dent in Google’s reputation, its usage, and its profits. To compare the synonyms for the other two companies, when I think Microsoft, I think Windows and Office, and when I think of Yahoo, I think of fossil.
If this deal were to take place, what would Microsoft really have to gain for it? Yahoo’s search engine? Well, it would be an improvement over Microsoft’s one, but nowhere near Google. Mail? Google has GMail, which isn’t as popular as Microsoft’s Hotmail but is gaining momentum. Not to mention how closely entwined Google’s Mail service is to all its other services and how many more features Google Mail has over Hotmail. The only thing I can see Microsoft gaining in this deal is a photo-sharing social network, in Flickr. Flickr is currently owned by Yahoo, and is probably its only redeeming feature in my opinion, and it’s also the one thing Google hasn’t got inside its huge Fortress of Doom. But really, in the world of Facebook and photo sharing on there, would that even be a thing that Google worries about? With the money Google has, it could probably buy Facebook. That’d be the end of that chapter.
I think Microsoft is throwing a lot of money to a lost cause. I’m no business expert, but I can clearly see when someone is just simply throwing large briefcases of money out the window. Microsoft should stick to what it knows best: monopolizing the OS industry.
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