There was never a moment where MS’s search engine was seriously competitive with Googles, whether that’s 2003 or 2018. Google was worried, but it wasn’t about t

There was never a moment where MS’s search engine was seriously competitive with Googles, whether that’s 2003 or 2018. Google was worried, but it wasn’t about the search algorithm. It was who would control the platform that controlled which search to run. Back then, MS clearly had the desktop (this was well before the widespread adoption of Chrome). Oracle/Java had a shaky but real lead in devices. The answer to desktop domination / MS was Chrome and taking the lead on new web standards that Google could control. But the answer to device / Oracle domination was Android. If Google didn’t wage that battle, every Android advertisement would have a “powered by Oracle” slogan in the bottom corner.