Is Google Really Scared of Bing? At Least There Is One Reason They Should Be.

There seem to be a lot of articles about Google feeling scared of Microsoft’s new search service, Bing. I wonder if this is part of the massive ad campaign. If so, it’s pretty effective.

There is actually a good reason for Google to be afraid. Unlike operating systems or office applications, switching the search engine of your choice is rather easy. No installation, learning curve, compatibility issues, or licensing. Nothing sticky. I can set the default search on my browser to Bing in a few clicks, and it wouldn’t disrupt my daily work at all. Google search isn’t even tied to other Google services like Gmail. The search engine market is actually a relatively easy market to compete in. The only problem is that the infrastructure required to support the basic search capabilities is so costly that small businesses can’t enter the market successfully. It needs to be someone like Microsoft.

Also, search has a lot to do with perception. I have a feeling that if Apple entered the market of search, even if their product is inferior, many people might believe it’s superior, and they might be able to beat Google. The average people have no way of gauging the quality of the search results. They just want to be assured that the results they are getting are the best possible results; so that they don’t have to search on a variety of search engines every time they need to search. Second guessing is what the users want to avoid because it’s time-consuming. In this sense, advertising and PR are key factors in the success of search engines.

—posted by Dyske   » Follow me on Twitter or on Facebook Page