> If the monopoly is due to superior technology, why are Google able to write a better search engine and maintain this search engine lead? Answering because I

> If the monopoly is due to superior technology, why are Google able to write a better search engine and maintain this search engine lead? Answering because I feel like this is the bulk of the answer -- Adwords still constitutes a large chunk of Google revenue, and depends directly on how good the search engine is. As for the search engine itself, they take a ruthlessly scientific approach to improving it: strict measurement, hypothesizing about improvements, testing the hypotheses, and then some world-class implementation and quality monitoring. This is generally evident in the level of rigor seen in Google-published systems papers.