Google, the king of the search jungle, is beginning to see social network sites such as Facebook as a competition to its search engine. For online advice, personal reviews, ratings, etc., social networking sites end up having an upper hand, whereas Google search in such matters is not considered to be as intimate or trustworthy. Information coming from friends and other acquaintances is trusted more, putting Google search information at a disadvantage.
Google Group Product Manager Ken Tokusei says:
“For decisions such as choosing a restaurant or a day care provider, social networking sites or known review sites have an advantage. We (Google) haven’t gotten to the point where results are seen as if they come from someone you know.”
Today, we all expect better-honed answers to our queries online.
Google search is still facing competition from its rivals like Microsoft (with its new “top-secret” search technology yet to be launched – Kumo) and Yahoo search (which is tweaking its search results, cutting out links and emphasizing on images and videos).
Google currently devotes 70 % of its employees and resources to search. In order to remain the King of the jungle, Google will have to expand its tools and services to determine what kind of information a user is really looking for.
We would like to know what you think. Could social network sites be a threat to Google search?
2 Comments
i dont think it is possible…
For five years, google worked on building its user base and perfecting its product(resisting pleas from venture capitalists to figure out how to make money). Google had made itself an essential part of everyone’s online life. I dont think it is possible.