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Google's Dominance, Dipsie's Plans

November 25, 2005 BY Mark Evans

Earlier this week, I wrote a column in the Financial Post
exploring the idea about whether a new rival to Google in the search
market could emerge. My take is it's unlikely unless a company develops
kick-ass technology and has the financial backing to build a global
brand, large user
base and, as important, the back-end infrastructure. An interesting
angle
in the search story is Dipsie,
which initially wanted to go head-to-head with Google in the mainstream
search market but has decided – at least for the time being – to focus
on the deep search market (data hidden behind firewalls and databases).
You can read my column here. SiliconBeat has some more details on Dipsie as well.

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  • Stuart MacDonald

    I think that if you are talking search as we know it today, GOOG is in pretty fine shape. It would be super hard for somebody to walk in and take it from them. BUT what you aren't allowing for in your estimation is that search as we know it today will be what it is forever. Fact is, as more and more advertisers pull money out of traditional media for a host of reasons, they will still need some way to build a brand and foster brand meaning, and search as it is today just doesn't do that.
    Search today, as a business proposition, is a sales tool – a good one, but still just a sales tool. It is held accountable to the same types of metrics as direct mail and the like, and to be effective requires a given level of “intent” to exist in someone's mind before they begin to use it. This is not how most consumer buying decision making works – it is a longer process, and this “I have intent” point is about a third of the way in.
    So, where GOOG could be, um, Amazoned is in *that* area: the top third of consumer decision making; providing a forum for awareness and brand meaning creation that goes beyond 10 words in a paid search listing.
    Advertisers will want it; consumers will need it and GOOG isn't there today. YHOO is at least spiritually closer to recognizing it, since they truly see themselves as “media” and are more willing to deport themselves that way. For GOOG, this vacancy at the top of the purchase funnel is a huge weakness to their model, and conversely, a huge opportunity for someone to move in above them and scoop a lot of cash.
    - Stuart