4 ms·

Agreed. If anybody has some good ideas/links about this, please share.

• stcredzero 16y ago
  Why are Bing and Yahoo not viable alternatives? Is it because your competition will out-market you using the better Google platform?
  • patio11 16y ago
    Why are Bing and Yahoo not viable alternatives? Mostly because they have decisively lost the search market in the United States. I deal with one of the most non-technical niches imaginable, and Google gives me 10x the traffic that Bing does. (It is an interesting question of whether this is solely because Google is crushing Bing in market share, or if it is a reflection of adaptation of my business to meet Google's demands. That is largely academic, though. Its a factor of freaking ten. Bing and Yahoo could both go dark tomorrow permanently and I might not even notice. The last time Google went dark, for 45 minutes, I started fielding customer support queries about how I "broke the Internet". And while that is amusing phrasing, I don't think it is false. Google is navigation on the open Internet. (Insert obligatory disclaimer: for English speaking Americans. It is a bit different in Japan. It is even more lopsided in the UK in Google's favor.) Edit to add: Do not get me started on their PPC services. Its like Bill Gates said "We want this to have the technical chops of Google and the dedication to service of a convent!" and the memo got horribly, horribly misread.
    • stcredzero 16y ago
      Does Microsoft know that Bing lost? (Maybe from their POV, it's just waiting in the wings.)
• moolave 16y ago
  Platforms are one of the best forms of leverage. I'd still use it but I would definitely want to have an exit strategy for those points the writer pointed out. You adapt to a platform for market share; you could also adapt to its changes or blaze a new trail in a different technological space.