The Search Engine Wars: The clash of Titans Or David vs Goliath ?
If you are anything like me, a Google search user, you may have not seen Bing's webpage in more than a year, and if you are as old as I am, then you have not opened Yahoo's main page since the year 2000.
Some may not have even heard of Bing. But a bit of research will show you that Bing usage has been spiking recently.
Bing has been launched so Microsoft can seriously contend in the Search Engine industry and scoop some revenues from the gold mine it has now become. Search Engines are a gold mine because they are the gates of heaven for internet users. We use the internet mostly to search for information, and well Social media to stay in contact and express ourselves. Where there are users, there are ads. You cannot blame brands, they need to reach users where they mostly spend their time, and most importantly when they are ready to make a purchase decision.
When people search the internet for products, they are either looking to buy or looking for information to assess a buying decision. Google advises brands to capture the users at that moment, and they even created a term for it, intent marketing.
That is how Search Engines have become a gold mine, users use them, thus brands will definitely advertise on them.
Compared to Google's 75 %, Bing now has 8 % of the Market share for Desktop search. Baidu, the Chinese search engine comes in third at 7.69 ahead of Yahoo's 6.88 %.
Google is still increasing its share as compared to last year's 66 %, while Baidu, the Chinese search engine is losing market share in favor of Bing, Hello Globalisation !
The launch of Windows 10 which has Bing integrated in its desktop search is definitely a huge factor for Bing making a progress, and I expect a further increase as every Microsoft user would eventually upgrade to Windows 10. Currently only 22 % are using Windows 10, while there are 66 % using older versions of Windows. When these users upgrade, there will be a spike in the usage of Bing due to its full integration with Windows 10.
Google might still be the search engine of choice when it comes to browsers, but people using their desktop and operating systems to search, will fall by default to Bing and Microsoft is not taking it any other way. Despite all of its failures against Google and Apple, Microsoft still dominates the PC OS scene with a 90 % market share.
Microsoft has recently announced that 25 % of its desktop searches are voice searches, this indicates a popular usage of the "Hey Cortana" feature which is Microsoft's virtual assistant and a very promising one indeed. It has been reviewed as a combination of the best of Siri and Google Now.
All of the above is not even half of what is going on in Search trends. We cannot speak of search without going into Mobile. Google has announced that as of May 2015, Mobile search now exceeds Desktop search. But we cannot discuss mobile search without bringing another titan into the equation, Hello Apple !
The war for mobile OS domination which we saw Microsoft withdraw from recently, is currently locked between Google's Android and Apple's iOS, with Android clearly in advantage holding a 80 % market share of handheld devices.
But when it comes to money from search, Android's domination has not been transformed into pesos.
According to reports, 75 % of Google's search ad revenues come from searches on iOS ! Yes, read that sentence again and let it sink.
Got it ? So Google, a search engine, generates most of its search ad revenues from Apple not from its own OS despite it owning more than 80 % of the market share of handheld operating systems...
Now think of the power that grants Apple. Can you imagine the potential revenue that Apple can make if they come up with their own search engine and oust Google from its universe ?
You know what this means folks, so while Google may be fighting Apple on one front, Google actually needs Apple. This gives an opportunity for Apple to compete on search, but that itself is no easy feat..
You may find this hard to believe, but Google knows the importance of playing nice with Apple, that it gave them a deal they could not refuse to make Google the default search engine on Safari. Google was also the default Search engine for Siri, and Spotlight.
But Apple seems to have other plans, remember how they ditched Google Maps back in the day ? They also recently ditched Google in favor of Bing as the default search engine for Siri and set Bing as the default for Spotlight instead of Google too.
The Trojan horse is Apple's Safari default search, which is for now no one other than Google's search engine. If Apple were to cancel the agreement with Google, and renew for Bing, Google would be shaking...
Yes Apple might be replacing Google by Bing for the default Safari search, a deal that was worth 1 billion dollar annually in 2013. Back then, mobile search was not on the rise as it is now, so imagine how much money Google is making. Remember folks, 75 % of the ad revenue of Google comes from iOS users.
Many reports claim though that the premium Google is paying for being the default search engine on iOS is not worth it, and that Google knowing that users prefer its search engine and are willing to literally type it in to search could push it to let the deal go.
So while an Apple was the catalyst in throwing man out of heaven according to Genesis. An Apple would not be the downfall of Google. Yes Google would lose a lot, and I mean a LOT, but this would be no more than a dent in Google's Quest for the Search World domination.
For Apple to actually compete fully on search, they will have to lure all their existing users to stop using Google (well they kind of succeeded against Adobe Flash), but even then they would not own the market because they will be restricted to Apple users which are around 20 %, albeit Google would really be hurt.
But is that even possible ? Only when user behaviors change, Apple would have a chance, because the latest statistics show that 66 % of iPhone owners open Google specifically to search. So unless Apple can cause a change in their users behavior without actually bothering them and pushing them away from their handsets, it is a hopeless case.
Should they really want to compete, Apple should launch a cross platform search solution, but knowing Apple, this is not happening anytime soon. Apple love to live in their own bubble, their jackless iPhone 7 is another example.
But until that day happens, if it ever will, a switch of its default Safari search bar to Bing will be a slap to Google.
When things are placed by default, users usually follow the flow, and that is something Microsoft knows very well. Why do you think Internet Explorer lived that long knowing it was the lousiest browser of them all ?
Thus with Bing being the default choice for search on Windows 10, Siri, and Spotlight and a potential replacement as the Safari default search engine, the numbers of Bing will spike taking a lot of its market share from Google.
Apple will not be doing it for spite though, as Microsoft will have to pay a premium for that. A premium they might be willing to pay considering all the revenue it could collect from search advertising.
On the other hand, Microsoft tried to make use of Yahoo's search in their (in)famous deal which tied Yahoo's hands and linked them to Microsoft's ads, but they failed. Their newly negotiated deal allows Yahoo to control its Mobile Search Advertising, and 50 % of its Desktop Search Advertising, and do you know who Yahoo signed with ? Yes, that is right. No one other than Google. Goes to show you, no one was able to make it in Search Advertising other than Google.
As of today Google controls 94 % of all searches on tablets and mobiles, Apple can really shake Google's search throne if they team up with Microsoft, but to dominate it ? That is a bit far fetched in the near future, but it will be exciting to watch how the future of Search will unfold...
So seeing all this, is there really a clash of Titans when it comes to Search ? Not really. It is more of a bunch of Davids vs one Goliath, and this time Goliath is winning.