28 replies to this topic

[RyanBlank]

it wouldn't surprise me a bit if they start with some type of beta Invitation Only store option

i am suprised this isn't already happening.. or should i say didn't happen 1, 2.. years ago. THERE's NO GOOD EXCUSE! other than and the points Randy and Torka have made of course, but i'm not totally convinced they made a decision to 'do it later and do it better'.. i think they disregarded it in whole, as MSN disregarded search. Yahoo! stores is a goldmine.. who waits to buy the mine until after a large % of it has been mined? maybe they are that cocky and thought it was OK to give such a head start. only they know.

one other point: Google search beat the living crap out of Yahoo years ago.. do we think their search-centric efforts to 'make it better' were that much more effective than Yahoo's efforts, considering that's where the majority of Google's focus was? are Google results head and shoulders above Yahoo's?

for the Google-ites Randy has mentioned that may be reading...

i think you missed the boat and are now running down the shore.. hoping for an opportunity for it to get close enough to land again so that you may have another chance to jump on. very much like a bad action movie.

How about you supply me with your beta stores, which may or may not be coming out, so i can start hitting the local chambers of commerce and get town retailers on board the whole town ecomm thing..

Thaaaaanks Google people.. it's much appreciated

[Randy]

Now there's a good sales pitch Ryan!

[RyanBlank]

Interesting Article posted on another forum. sort of relevant to our discussion here. i especially enjoyed this quote:

But, while acknowledging Google as ‘a fine company, a serious competitor’, he is dismissive of the threat.

‘Which Google products are you talking about? Seriously? Other than search, which are you talking about? Google Talk? Wow. A total “me too” product. Even Gmail – what is the unique thing?’ he says.

-Bill gates

[torka]

Maybe this will be included in part two of the article? (the Computing article mentions that it will be continued with a second part next week, and I didn't see this bit included in there this time around).

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates says internet search engines will have to start paying customers to use their service as the market becomes increasingly competitive.

‘You will get some free content or a cheque, or some incentive to use a different search engine. Competition for users has not even kicked in. I can assure you it will not stay that way.’

And he added: ‘We are going to run some experiments on that in the next year.’

So now I guess we can get an idea of how Microsoft intends to compete with Google -- and Mr. Bill says they're going to be "running some experiments" next year. Now there's a beta I want to be included in! Show me da money!

--Torka

[Randy]

Do you know what makes me happiest about all of this?

That from all appearances at this point in time we're going to have three very major and very well funded corporations in direct competition for what amounts to a lot of money. Not just in Search, but in many things Internet. I honestly think that a decade from now there will be more like 10 or more major companies out there competing for business.

No matter how I look at it, this situation bodes very well for the average Joe or Josephine out there who is trying to find a way to make a living on the 'Net instead of having to work for The Man every day just to survive.

It only gets better as more of the world becomes Connected. What we see now, while it is large and growing exponentially, is still only in its infancy. Some day, 40 or 50 years from now, we'll all be telling our grandchildren or great-grandchildren that we were There when the New World Economy started.

[ewc21]

I wish there are a lot of credible companies offering similar services instead of a few dominant ones in the industry.

[Dave]

Thanks to all who chipped in to this discussion. I've really enjoyed reading it...

Dave

[Fleur]

Wow.... that's a whole lotta information on the Search biggies. I really enjoyed reading the whole discussion. Infact, I became a member today right after reading the discussion.....!!

I do believe we've seen nothing yet for there is a lot more to come. Each of the 3 biggies are making solid efforts to outdo each other in one field or the other. Google seems to reign the roost for now what with concentrating entirely on search, but I do think it's up to something big - what with tying up with NASA, and then SUN Microsystems. They've always believed in the dazzle by surprise theory so we'd be gettting to see something any day now....

I m keeping my eyes peeled for that, as well as for any other moves made by Yahoo & MSN too....

Cheers

[ewc21]

Welcome Fleur!

[Randy]

Yeah, they're all doing a lot of moving and shaking lately aren't they Fleur?

I'm personally waiting to see what Google intends to do with all of that Fiber they've snapped up over the last year. Even though it's totally unrelated to Search, they could garner some major marketshare of Internet users if they end up offering some sort of nationwide WiFi network here in the US. Which of course could benefit their marketshare for everything else.

Lots of interesting irons in the proverbial fire for all of the majors at the moment.

[RyanBlank]

It only gets better as more of the world becomes Connected...  we'll all be telling our grandchildren or great-grandchildren that we were There when the New World Economy started

now you're talking crazy Randy.. Nice! Have you read the book, "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman? it's pretty interesting if you're into the idea of globalization and the whole connected world thing. some people like the author some people hate him.. i have no opinion either way.

<my own crazy talk>

I'm personally waiting to see what Google intends to do with all of that Fiber they've snapped up over the last year.

This is where i think Google's real plan is.. forget providing ecomm solutions (though they may still do so). How about providing the internet to everyone in the world (or in the US at least) that doesn't have it yet? You know that little problem called the Digital Divide? Well, i think Google's plan may be to try and solve it. Take MIT's $100 laptop initiative (which Google is a corporate sponsor of) and pair it with free Wi-fi for all and it would become tough to find someone who DIDN'T have internet access. Then they would essentially be indexing/organizing the world's information as well as providing access to it.. I'm not sure if Google is buying up any fiber in other parts of the world, but they are doing it here. and home is a good place to start solving this divide issue.

They've always believed in the dazzle by surprise theory

the digital divide is considered a major world problem.. i think helping to solve it would definitely be dazzling and put Google on a whole new level business-wise. It would take them out of the class of being a search/media company with the likes of Yahoo on to something entirely different.
</my own crazy talk>

[Randy]

now you're talking crazy Randy..

See my current signature for confirmation that it's not just talk Ryan.

[RyanBlank]

HA! i didn't even notice that.

[ewc21]

With the news that Microsoft is the leading suitor in acquiring stake at AOL, it seems that Google must be trying to retain its foothold of its 10-12% base income through Google ads at AOL.