Google, MSN, Search and switching costs
So, is search hot this year or what? Oh, and is Google so easily de-thronable as some people think? Think about this for a second before you start with the analogies. Most are not very applicable. Also, just because Microsoft is aiming one of its "competition-killer" cruise missiles doesn’t make this an easy win necessarily. What happens when barriers to entry are low, consumer purchase cycle is instant, usage cycle is long and theoretical switching costs are low? You innovate like hell, listen to your customers, experiement, leverage your technology and don’t look back. Oh, in case I forgot, if something sticks, you expand the coverage area and put more glue on it: think AdSense and AdWords. These are the source of Google’s stickiness, (such a 90s word), and also the semblance of entry barriers with rising switching costs based on the "good enough" premise. So, what’s your thinking so far? Before you answer, check out these two posts one at Scobble and one in the MIT Tech Review and let me know what you think.
I’m about to test Onfolio 2.0 beta and the MSN toolbar. Will keep you posted.
January 11th, 2005 at 10:23 pm
Vele,
Some quick thoughts/comments:
-Having tried MSN desktop search along with Google’s offering for severeal weeks now, from a search perspective i think MSN is more effective. On several occasions it has found more hits, especially when i have searched for e-mails in Outlook. Also, some of the e-mails I found with GDS weren;t available when i clicked on them. A small difference, but still noticeable. Also, MSN interface is better since it integrates with IE, Outllok and into the Taskbar, making it easier to use.
-That said, perhaps it will not be as easy for Microsoft to sell a completely bundled OS with desktop search, espcially in the EU. As I recall, the EU basically is telling msft it has to offer a version of XP that does not bundle the Media Player. The same thing could well happen with desktop search. Whether this ruling will make any siginificant difference is not for sure since it states that msft only has to offer the alternative - in reality most consumers will likely opt for the WMP since it will be free.
-Yahoo: somethign i did not know till recently is that Yahoo had been using Google’s search engine. No longer however, Yahoo is now using its own and is taking the competition very seriously. I am sure Jeff from Yahoo will have much to say about this at the Tech Conf.
Marcus