A Google Vulnerability Exposed
June 22, 2009
Erick Schonfeld’s “When It Comes to Search Trends, Google Is Lagging Behind Bing” identifies a potential Google weakness. I think TechCrunch is on to something, but I think the visible vulnerability explained by Mr. Schonfeld is a symptom of a deeper problem.
The weakness is an ability to handle what’s new and what’s happening. Mr. Schonfeld, wrote:
As Microsoft tries to take away market share from Google with its new search engine, Bing
, it is battling Google feature by feature. One feature where Microsoft seems to be edging out Google is with displaying recent search trends. This may not be a major feature, but it shows a weakness in Google’s armor.
Mr. Schonfeld presented sample queries that illustrate this issue. The bottom-line is that for the most recent information, I may want to use more than Google. Bing.com is one option and there are the numerous real time search systems available.
My take on this is different. Keep in mind that I think Mr. Schonfeld has identified a symptom, the deeper disease is “time deficiency.” As zippy as the Google system is when responding to queries, the Google is not as fast on the intake and indexing of real time data flows such as those from social networks.
My research has identified several reasons:
- Google’s attention is on its leapfrog technologies such as Google Fusion and Google Wave. Both of these are manifestations of a larger Google play. While the wizards focused on these innovations, the real time content explosion took place, leaving Google without a here-and-now response
- Google is big and it is suffering from the same administrative friction that plagued IBM when Microsoft pulled off the disc operating system coup and that hobbled Microsoft when Google zoomed into Web search. Now the Google finds itself aware of Facebook, Twitter, and similar services yet without a here-and-now response. Slow out of the blocks may mean losing the race.
- Google’s plumbing is not connected to the real time streams from social and RSS services. Sure, there is some information, but it is simply not as fresh as what I can find on Scoopler and some other services.
What we have is a happy circumstance. If Microsoft can exploit that weakness, I think it has a chance to capture traffic in the real time sector. But having identified a weakness does not mean that hemlock can be poured into Googzilla’s ear.
There are some other weaknesses at the Google as well. I will be talking about one at the NFAIS conference on Friday, June 26, 2009. Get too many weaknesses, and these nicks start to hurt. Addled geese have to be very careful but big companies are often too big and tough to be worried about a few nicks. If there are a thousand of them, well, the big outfit might notice.
Stephen Arnold, June 22, 2009
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2 Responses to “A Google Vulnerability Exposed”
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I like the new Bing search, it’s easy and fast. Microsoft had its day in the 90’s and I’m not for any one company to corner the market but it’s my opinion that Google controls way too much of the Internet traffic. It’s really our decision weather or not a search engine does well; making a conscious choice to use more then one product or shop at different stores helps us all. It’s not good for any economy to have one big conglomerate controlling its niche. The use of Bing and its services is good for us all.
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