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Google and search

Monday, August 27, 2007 by Dave Winer.

A picture named doughboy.jpgA few thoughts for Scoble for the morning. Permalink to this paragraph

1. Google is not going to replaced as the #1 search engine anytime soon. It's a simple application of Ries & Trout. There's a ladder in search, as in all product categories. Google is so firmly installed in the top rung of the search ladder it's hard to even think who #2 and #3 are. (That is, if Google is Coke, who is Pepsi?) Permalink to this paragraph

2. Spam has not had a major impact on the usability of Google. I'm sure they're investing huge resources in detecting and eliminating spam from their index, it's such a core issue for them. Permalink to this paragraph

3. Search is like a desktop operating system. You can translate a dominant position in search into dominant positions in almost any other product category. There were lots of startups poised to kill Windows in the 80s and 90s. None of them had any impact on Windows, which was a juggernaut, as Google is a juggernaut today. Permalink to this paragraph

A picture named gecko.jpgNow, about would-be competitors. Permalink to this paragraph

1. Scoble, if the Mahalo proposition to authors is so attractive, have you signed up? Which pages on the Mahalo site are you maintaining? What's it like being a Mahalo author? Permalink to this paragraph

2. It's ridiculous to think that TechMeme is spam-resistant where Google is not. Both are algorithmic. While Gabe Rivera is a very smart and hard-working guy, they have plenty of smart people at Google. Permalink to this paragraph

3. You might have a case with Facebook. When I'm searching for something and can't find it on Google, I often ask the readers of my blog for help. Sometimes it's hard to formulate the query. The people who read my site are smart and like to show off. I think the same thing is happening on Facebook. If you can't find something, ask your network. That might go. Permalink to this paragraph

4. The idea that Facebook is an Internet within the Internet, something Time said today, that probably is a big threat to Google. I think you weakened your story by dragging Mahalo and TechMeme into it. The reason Facebook is interesting is that unlike Google it's built on identity, it's built on everyone being identified, and people having one identity (although it's certainly possible to have more than one, it might be hard to get a lot of people to recognize that identity, people with a lot of "friends" may be more trustworthy than people with very few). Facebook may be on a different ladder than Google is. I'm sure Google is all over this from every possible angle, so we'll find out shortly. Permalink to this paragraph

PS: Rand Fishkin steps through Scoble's piece. Permalink to this paragraph

PPS: The champion of the Internet in the battle against spam is using spam to promote his own product. Permalink to this paragraph



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