There is always talk about possible replacements for Google when it comes to search and recently is no difference with the release of Cuil.

However I believe Google’s strength is simply the fact that it has been held by many as their main search engine for so long. For approximately 70% of the search market Google is king and the majority of search users use Google exclusively. People like familiarity and don’t want to have to use new products unless there is seen to be a significant advantage in changing.

Google’s own rapid growth was due to the better quality results it returned in comparison to other search engines. A significant enough advantage at the time for people to move from Yahoo! and Alta Vista.

Of course this isn’t to say that there isn’t going to be a new service that will provide the extra something to get people to switch but with Google’s ability to keep improving and expand their services is going to make toppling them from top spot so much more difficult. Google just doesn’t ignore new ideas online and if they feel they are lacking in a specific area they will come up with their own slant on it. I’m not just talking a copy here but taking the idea and trying to beat the originator at their own game.

It’s therefore difficult for a new upstart to grab too much of Google’s market.

The biggest danger for Google is actually losing the very quality of service that attracted users in the first place. Google results are reportedly deteriorating with more spam and manipulating sites floating to the top. Google run a constant battle of stopping websites employing new techniques to lift their position. In this way Google is a victim of it’s own success - a high position in Google is worth a lot of money to companies and they will certainly try all sorts of new ways to elevate their status.

So it’s all in Google’s hands. They are fighting a battle for control of their own results with increasing difficult tactics to detect such as a new take on link exchanges - the three way link exchange. They have to harden their algorithm to be more difficult to manipulate by adding variables that people just can’t imitate.

If Google keeps their eye on the ball there will be no reason for people to switch services and their future dominance is assured. People’s familiarity with Google will keep them on board.

It seems that Yahoo! has been able to avoid the attempts of Microsoft to buy them up. Certainly it makes Microsoft look the major loser in all of this however is Yahoo! really the victor?

Share prices of both Yahoo! and Microsoft are likely to drop because of this and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google prices rise.

Yahoo! gets to keep it’s independence but the question is for how long? Their market share has been dropping steady and with Google’s dominance of the search market it’s not easy for either Yahoo! or Microsoft to get a foothold against the search leader.

I actually think the failure of this potential merger is in the long term going to be damaging for both Microsoft and Yahoo! We can only hope that individually they can make up some ground against Google otherwise the monopoly Google could exercise could be very dangerous for online community in general.

Comments on a post about this on BBC News dot.life shows I’m not the only one with this belief. I’ve got to say I’m a little disappointed as I was very interested to see how the two different cultures of Microsoft and Yahoo! would combine - what kind of company would Microhoo! have been?

Another update on the search engine wars! It seems Yahoo! is trying to jump into bed with Google to avoid the smothering embrace of Microsoft.

However with their joint market share amounting to about 90% there is no way this is going to be allowed by the powers that be and I believe not in the interest of the market as a whole. There is an excellent article on the BBC that goes into all the detail you’d need about this and I agree with every point.

Now there are rumblings that AOL might be interested in teaming up with Yahoo! and even Rupert Murdoch might team up with Microsoft for the bid for Yahoo!

Personally I think AOL and Yahoo! isn’t going to change a thing there certainly isn’t any chance of eating into Google’s share.

Yahoo! are obviously terrified to be swallowed up by Microsoft (I’m sure it would cease to exist) but I can see this as the only option if we’re not going to have a single company with a monopoly on the market. I’m not even sure if it’s too late now. Whatever Google’s reputation this isn’t good for the market and stifles innovation.

Another month another set of figures. It seems Google’s share in the search market keeps increasing now up to 67% or 69% (3.12% or 4.7% increase in a year) depending which source you believe. Yahoo! saw drops of approximately 1% or 4%. Microsoft Live is not conclusive as one source reports an increase and one a decrease.

With the talk of a Microsoft take over of Yahoo! maybe these figures show that the two are losing track of their rival. Sharing their expertise might just give them the edge to catch up or at least put up more of a fight.

Although some don’t like the idea of two super-giants in this market I’m inclined to prefer this over a single dominant force that no one can touch. Lets face it Google can make or break businesses online.