After all the verbal battles, the competition between Microsoft and Google has finally entered a direct phase.
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| Source: SecurityLab |
Last Monday, Amazon’s search platforms, Alexa and A9, began to abandon Google in favor of Microsoft’s new search tool, Windows Live, right after their contract with Google expired.
According to several reports, last Saturday, Google filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging that Microsoft had secretly set MSN as the default search engine within the upcoming Internet Explorer 7 browser.
Despite Silicon Valley’s view of Google as a giant, when comparing Google’s revenue of $6.14 billion with Microsoft’s $39.79 billion, Google still appears to be a “small fry” in the industry.
A Fight to the Death
However, this does not mean Microsoft can rest easy. Google is growing explosively, while Microsoft is not. While Google’s financial results for the first quarter received enthusiastic applause from Wall Street, Microsoft faced boos and whistles.
Moreover, with the increasing use of web-based applications, Microsoft has every reason to worry that customers will depend more on Google as their starting point into the Internet world.
Google’s free applications, such as Gmail and Calendar, are becoming increasingly popular. Last month, Google even acquired Writely, a free web-based word processing software that is compatible with Microsoft Word.
In stark contrast to Microsoft, Google can offer completely free software backed by massive revenues from online advertising. Over the past year, online advertising revenue has grown by 30%, and Google is the dominant player in this field.
In response to Google, Microsoft introduced MSN adCenter. In an internal memo, CEO Steve Ballmer emphasized the importance of adCenter in the competitive battle against Google.
“Further developing adCenter is the key. Our goal is to create the largest advertising network in the Web world. This will be our tool to monetize our services and compete with Google“.
The Amazon Battlefield
In the context of this escalating battle, Amazon’s decision to abandon Google for Windows Live is seen as a bombshell.
With Amazon’s choice of Windows Live as the sole search engine for A9.com, Microsoft has the right to declare a significant victory over its rival.
Since last Monday, a day after Amazon’s contract with Google ended, A9 users have begun searching using Microsoft’s technology, whether they realize it or not. The A9 interface allows users to narrow their search by selecting specific content types, such as books, blogs, yellow pages, or movies.
According to analyst Mukul Krishna, this deal is a significant win for Microsoft, but it doesn’t seem to cause much damage to Google.
Krishna stated that Amazon chose Windows Live because of Microsoft’s willingness to collaborate and sign contracts.
“Microsoft has a reputation for being creative in negotiating important contracts, allowing them to make a significant mark in the market“, Krishna noted, emphasizing that the technologies of both search engines, Google and Windows Live, are quite similar.
“It’s no surprise that Microsoft beats other competitors with an incredibly good and attractive deal. They might accept lower profits just to secure an important business and penetrate deeper into the new market“.
Destiny
