Google Search
Describe Google 's business model. What strategies has Google relied upon to build competitive advantage in the industry?
The Google business model is one built around its primary business of licensing fees for supplying search functions to corporate clients and content-targeting advertising. The company utilizes its popular internet search engine to match Google advertisers with Internet users. It targets advertising to search results which are more likely to attract potential customers. The Google philosophy to "do one thing really, really well" , its search function, has built its loyal customer base and its success has enabled Google to enhance the features it offers to more than just search. Google competitive strategies are aimed squarely at holding and increasing their core customer base, internet search users and advertisers, and building on their dominant position as the search engine of choice by broadening the number of products that they offer.
The Google Search Engine
Designed to help people retrieve information from either a computer network within an organisation or the World Wide Web, Google 's search engine differs from prior engines in that it sorts information by a ranking of relevance. This relevance is determined by the number of times other web pages refer users to a particular webpage to find their requested information. An uncluttered and clear user interface simplifies the search function. Users are able to get fast and more relevant results to their search queries. This initially helped to form the competitive advantage which Google once held over its rival search engines, since imitated by Microsoft with its MSN Search. The relative ease of the search interface for internet search users has helped to place Google firmly in the position as the current US market leader, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Top 4 Search Providers for May 2007, Ranked by Searches (U.S.)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, June 2007
Search
The Google business model is one built around its primary business of licensing fees for supplying search functions to corporate clients and content-targeting advertising. The company utilizes its popular internet search engine to match Google advertisers with Internet users. It targets advertising to search results which are more likely to attract potential customers. The Google philosophy to "do one thing really, really well" , its search function, has built its loyal customer base and its success has enabled Google to enhance the features it offers to more than just search. Google competitive strategies are aimed squarely at holding and increasing their core customer base, internet search users and advertisers, and building on their dominant position as the search engine of choice by broadening the number of products that they offer.
The Google Search Engine
Designed to help people retrieve information from either a computer network within an organisation or the World Wide Web, Google 's search engine differs from prior engines in that it sorts information by a ranking of relevance. This relevance is determined by the number of times other web pages refer users to a particular webpage to find their requested information. An uncluttered and clear user interface simplifies the search function. Users are able to get fast and more relevant results to their search queries. This initially helped to form the competitive advantage which Google once held over its rival search engines, since imitated by Microsoft with its MSN Search. The relative ease of the search interface for internet search users has helped to place Google firmly in the position as the current US market leader, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Top 4 Search Providers for May 2007, Ranked by Searches (U.S.)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search, June 2007
Search
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