Google Inc.

Is search a winner-take-all business?

At this point, 2009, past the date of this case, it would appear that search is a winner-take-all business. However, the industry has a lot of big names (Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL) that are most likely not going to take a backseat while Google takes over the market. Competing with Google as a search engine, is not an easy task, but technology and computer engineering maintain continuous growth. I obviously would not now what the next "algorithm" or similar program could be to compete with Google's search engine. There are high barriers to entry in the market, but once a competitively successful framework for search is developed, there are low switching costs to consumers since search engines are free.

On the other hand, Google and the "search" market may end up like the web browser market. Internet Explorer took over the market, it's a free service and the is bundled with Microsoft's operating systems. Now that Google has Google Desktop, Gmail, Blogger, etc. it is easy to become completely dependent on Google as your one and ONLY search engine. It's right at your fingertips for any search you want. The major difference is that search engines are very profitable from their advertising. Web browsers would not attract a lot of competition. It's not a profitable industry (?), but search engines are profitable, so rivals can be expected in the future.