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And Google has an absurd share of the search market, with which they can make or break (and have made or broken) all sorts of businesses. Consumers can choose n

And Google has an absurd share of the search market, with which they can make or break (and have made or broken) all sorts of businesses. Consumers can choose not to use Google, but businesses can't opt out of how they're listed. The Office formats, for all their quirks, are open and documented. There's no one forcing you to use MS Office. You probably can't switch which OS you're using at work, but Windows is fairly permissive of portable apps that evade most of the security restrictions. We're locked into using IE8 at work for compatibility reasons, but I'm able to use Chrome on my work computer just fine. If you don't think Google is heading down the old Microsoft route, I point you to the bundling of Google+ with all of their other apps. Yes, it delivers value. But that's what Microsoft said when it started bundling IE with Windows.

argumentum 13y ago
> Consumers can choose not to use Google, but businesses can't opt out of how they're listed A better way to put that would be businesses can't opt out of consumers using Google. Obviously you can not be listed simply by using robots.txt or not having a website.
angryasian 13y ago
>businesses can't opt out of how they're listed. This makes 0 sense. You can absolutely opt out, but wouldn't every business want to be at the top. I imagine if someone comes up with a better page ranking algorithm they definitely have a shot at beating google. >bundling I think its referred to single sign on in the enterprise world. Its much better than having to remember different logons and profiles for every google service (which youtube did)
- girvo 13y ago
  I imagine if someone comes up with a better page ranking algorithm they definitely have a shot at beating google. Not a chance... about the same as Linux has at beating Windows on the desktop, in my opinion. It's too entrenched, too far ahead, barrier to entry to even get to a level playing field is too high... I'd love to see it, to be honest. I hope beyond hope it will happen. But I think it's more likely to see something remove the need to search entirely than have a new search engine take out Google's dominance.
  - NigelTufnel 13y ago
    I agree. It's not just the algorithm, scale etc. It's the chicken/egg problem - to have a good page ranking you need a lot of usage data from a lot of users and to get a lot of users you need a good page ranking.
  - angryasian 13y ago
    we'll have to agree to disagree. Search is plain and simple a utility. If the utility is better then people will switch.

argumentum 13y ago

> Consumers can choose not to use Google, but businesses can't opt out of how they're listed A better way to put that would be businesses can't opt out of consumers using Google. Obviously you can not be listed simply by using robots.txt or not having a website.

angryasian 13y ago

>businesses can't opt out of how they're listed. This makes 0 sense. You can absolutely opt out, but wouldn't every business want to be at the top. I imagine if someone comes up with a better page ranking algorithm they definitely have a shot at beating google. >bundling I think its referred to single sign on in the enterprise world. Its much better than having to remember different logons and profiles for every google service (which youtube did)

girvo 13y ago
I imagine if someone comes up with a better page ranking algorithm they definitely have a shot at beating google. Not a chance... about the same as Linux has at beating Windows on the desktop, in my opinion. It's too entrenched, too far ahead, barrier to entry to even get to a level playing field is too high... I'd love to see it, to be honest. I hope beyond hope it will happen. But I think it's more likely to see something remove the need to search entirely than have a new search engine take out Google's dominance.
- NigelTufnel 13y ago
  I agree. It's not just the algorithm, scale etc. It's the chicken/egg problem - to have a good page ranking you need a lot of usage data from a lot of users and to get a lot of users you need a good page ranking.
- angryasian 13y ago
  we'll have to agree to disagree. Search is plain and simple a utility. If the utility is better then people will switch.