Earlier this week, I asked whether you would Microhoo should the Microsoft-Yahoo deal actually go down. The results (while perhaps not the most statistically accurate) were that you guys would go for such a search engine. I was surprised. Perhaps the better question would have been whether you would use such a search engine in lieu of Google? Or after you Googled something to only mediocre results? Of course, this was before Microsoft announced Live Search this week (you know—where they'll give search engine users cash back on purchases they make from advertisers). If Microsoft is handing out free money, I can't imagine why you would use Google. This, naturally, was Microsoft's plan all along—to hit Google where it hurts, in their core business of search revenues. The Washington Post calls the approach "both desperate and brilliant"—brilliant because they have "such a small share of search revenue that they have little to lose," and desperate because they'll be giving away most of the search revenue to gain market share.
Nonethless, after a little thought I realized that the birth of Live Search doesn't entirely render my initial question a moot point. I've got to believe that there are a few diehards among you who will use Google no matter what. Cash incentives are an unquestionably powerful tool, but Google is so deeply ingrained in our culture (it's a verb!) that I can't imagine that it's going to slink off and die once Live Search is unleashed. Anyone agree?
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Good point, Richard. The point of most my searches isn't to make purchases either, which is why unless something major happens with Yahoo, I'll keep using Google. Google's fast, efficient, and it's already my default browser...
—brittschaeffer
18:37, May 23rd, 2008
No way will I Microhoo.
Get this. The other day I tried to find an article posted/hosted on Yahoo News using Yahoo. I had the title but wanted the story, so I searched the title in quotes. The word "the" was in the title. In some of Yahoo's top 10 returns, the only term matched was "the". Seriously.
Relevance aside, most of my searches don't have a related product. What's Microhoo going to offer me when I search "thermophiles"? 2-5% cash back on a deep trench submarine tour?
Unless someone comes out of left field with a really rocking semantics-based search engine before Google develops one, it's going to retain its position.
—richard
14:40, May 23rd, 2008
Agreed. In a piece on NPR the other day, they mentioned a study wherein they'd shown that the biggest role the internet plays in purchasing is as a researching tool. The purchases themselves may or may not be made online. From what I've seen, Live Search doesn't yet approach Google's convenience as a search tool when making purchases, let alone as a source for nonconsumer research or other information. I think it will take more than 2-5% cash back on the occasional internet buy to have a significant impact on Google's market share.
—benpirie
13:12, May 23rd, 2008
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