Search Without Google, WTF?

Hi David Berkowitz, I knew I should have co-authored this article with someone like you. Okay, it took Google 10 years to move from the days of junk index to outstanding results deep and wide in 2007. So, I guess we can give it 10 years rather than overnight...

Hi Vicki, no doubt Google has been and continues to be a significant asset to us all. They offer great products and services and appear to have the Midas Touch. However, their ability to make billions of dollars from the original crowd at GoTo.com e.g., the original PPC, will remain as the single biggest impression in my mind. I see they are spending a lot of their time and money shoring-up the revenue model indifference e.g., DoubleClick and more to come.

Hi Dave Colson, you must be reading our minds...insert smile here...and keep an eye out for this follow-up piece.

Hi Mathew, thanks for acknowledging this fact, no single search company can rule 100% of the market. A more likely possibility is diversity e.g., 300 TV channels today Vs. 13 channels 40 years ago. In any event, Google will have its hands full over the next 10 years.

Hi Chris Kameir, you may have more intuition than most and clearly understand the essence of this subject matter. Hear, hear... I concur, Google must properly allocate investments towards new and improved algo’s e.g., Hal, open the door Hal.

Ian, yes I would agree – it is purely speculation as to ‘how’ the corrosion of Google's domination might evolve. I think it is safe to say however; Google’s success is hinged on ‘trust’ and as long as we (the population) are willing to ‘trust Google,’ Google will likely continue to thrive regardless of my statements today .

Hi Sarah – use ASK only for the organic benefits; as you and I have stated “Since Ask gets its sponsored search results from Google, we won't get any help here.”

We get Ask through google, though, right? so , why would we want to buy Ask directly if it is in Google's Search network?

In some parts of the world (and until Yahoo's solution is released) the choice is rather limited making it hard to see how Google will be knocked off. If it is, I would suggest that it will not come from one of the engines listed above but rather from another, yet unknown, provider.

The threat is very real. Already Google's result are not that much better than the ones delivered by Yahoo or MSN. And Google's problem is that their algorithm is the main target for all search engine spammers.

Although it may be possible that Google could wain in 10-20 years, I don't think I would count on it as part of my marketing strategy. But it is sound advice to focus on other search engines, because no search engine will capture 100% of the market. Some people do tend to put all their eggs in the Google basket, and that may be a little short sighted.

While I agree with the premise of the article, I think drilling down a little deeper would be more valuable. Given how Panama changed the search landscape for many and how any change to the Google ad platform could significantly impact your business, I think taking a hard look at other search engine opportunities such as Miva and Looksmart would be a worthwhile follow-up to this article and conversation.

I agree there should always be a short and long terms trategy especially with online search and the quickly changing landscape. However, Google continues to demonstrate innovation and ability to adapt to (and often times create) user trends. They also continue forming strategic partnerships. I would anticipate instead of those users going away or migrating to other resources, Google will continue evolving, acquiring and forming business relationships that continue creating life time usage and value.

Good article, but it's the premise I don't buy. Google may not last forever, but its market share is only increasing, and no one will wake up one day to find these several million users suddenly gone.