Is Google's default search engine dominance under threat?

[Whitey]

Several news articles surfacing over the last few months seem to show a trend of stories around key devices and accessories defaulting users to Bing or Yahoo etc. Here's a snapshot of a few, that I chanced on, that others may well be aware of :

Apple could dump Google from its mobile web browser [businessinsider.com.au...]

Google Goes After Firefox Users With Results-Page Plea [au.pcmag.com...]

Today I upgraded Skype to the latest version, with Bing listed as a default preference [ I didn't feel strongly compelled to avoid the switch ] ?

This is no longer the same territory as a few years back. A lot of usage is on mobile - so who cares for the small screen sized Google search engine any more.

Are the above tactics by competitors going to eat into Google's search market with Bing and the lesser size engines? Or perhaps a Baidu or Yandex entry strategy.

Is Google's sacred search ground dominance safe from user's not caring and switching to the plethora of device/accessories options out there ... what's your sense of emerging trends around these tactics.

[engine]

I haven't seen that Firefox pop-up yet, but it seems logical that Google wants that traffic back, whether it's hurting or not.

[EditorialGuy]

Aside from anything else, the news articles about Bing, Yahoo, etc. nibbling into Google's market share focus almost entirely on the U.S. market. Firefox's deal with Yahoo!, for example, is limited mostly (entirely?) to the U.S. In Europe, Firefox continues to use Google as its default search engine.

[rish3]

I haven't seen that Firefox pop-up yet

Just tested it...not really a pop up, but it does appear at the top of the SERPS: [i.imgur.com...]

[Leosghost]

Got a glimpse of it ( the make G default search engine"pop up" ) a couple of days ago, but then SERP displayed as normal, figured I was lacking sleep and needed to loosen the tinfoil hat a bit ;)..or that it was a"subliminal" aimed to "push me"( no smiley this time )..I don't think they are getting desperate, more like "cocky"..In France they already have over 95% of search share..

[engine]

Thanks rish3, I have not seen that display at all, yet. My time will come, i'm sure.

Back to the OP, I don't believe Google's dominance is really under threat, there's a long way to go, and as was mentioned, outside the USA, Google's dominance is even greater. However, it's top dog, so it's likely to notice more impact on its advertising.

It could slowly go against it if the serps end up with too much that looks promotional. Another SERPs Knowledge Layout - No Organic Above Fold [webmasterworld.com]

[Wilburforce]

I have not seen that display at all, yet.

Nor have I (UK), and

Back to the OP, I don't believe Google's dominance is really under threat

No sign of it in my traffic stats.

[tangor]

At this point the market has reached a point of maturity... and into that paradigm will come "youngsters" who will nip at heels. Google is dominate at the moment, but others are gaining and G is losing... bits and pieces, but each loss is another's gain.

Where the difference might appear is new devices with new deals with other than g as the default.

Users are generally lazy. :)

[aristotle]

What concerns Google is the fact that Yahoo is still holding on to a significant part of the U.S. search share that it gained when Firefox switched its default search engine to Yahoo last December.

There were predictions that Yahoo's initial gain from the switch would quickly fade away because most users would change the default back to Google. But that didn't happen, at least not nearly to the extent that many predicted.

Any gain in search share in the critical U.S. market is very significant. So far Yahoo's gamble is paying off in a big way. And their success could encourage further similar moves as opportunities arise, not only by them, but also by others.

[RedBar]

Just tested it...not really a pop up, but it does appear at the top of the SERPS

UK - I saw that last week and promptly clicked "No thanks".

I use G as and when I "need" to.

[EditorialGuy]

Any gain in search share in the critical U.S. market is very significant. So far Yahoo's gamble is paying off in a big way.

That tiny gain in U.S. search share is also costing them in a big way. (They're buying traffic, just as surely as if they bought PPC ads.)

[rish3]

That tiny gain in U.S. search share is also costing them in a big way. (They're buying traffic, just as surely as if they bought PPC ads.)

You understand that the previous customer for this bought traffic was Google, right?

[EditorialGuy]

You understand that the previous customer for this bought traffic was Google, right?

Yep, and they obviously decided that it wasn't worth the cost.

Maybe Yahoo should have learned something from that. :-)

[rish3]

Yep, and they obviously decided that it wasn't worth the cost.
Maybe Yahoo should have learned something from that. :-)

Google paid every year for 10 years straight. There's not any evidence that would say whether Yahoo is paying FF more, or less, than Google did.

It's possible, for example, that FF was loath to renew a deal with the maker of Chrome, and agreed to terms with Yahoo! that reflected the value of not being in bed with a direct competitor.

[Whitey]

@Aristotle - There were predictions that Yahoo's initial gain from the switch would quickly fade away because most users would change the default back to Google. But that didn't happen, at least not nearly to the extent that many predicted.

Exactly .... and what does this tell us ?

For me it's :
- people overall are inherently lazy and care less about the difference between search engines to revert to Google
- mobile makes it even less important
- more devices and applications means more avenues for users to be switched
- it's going to cost money, more often to do deals to try and retain search habits in favour of one or the other
- Google has noticed it is a potential threat, and is seeking to respond accordingly
- is Google able to muscle out the rest of the digital search world, into the future

Tech / US business is lightening fast..... an interesting time.

( btw - plenty of great inputs here, worthy of additional comment )

[Rasputin]

people overall are inherently lazy and care less about the difference between search engines to revert to Google

Not sure if its to do with being lazy but I think this is the greatest threat to dominance by G.

It took bing a long time to catch up but they now gives results that would satisfy most people most of the time and that look pretty much the same as google results.

I have noticed recently that other members of my family haven't even noticed when they are searching in bing instead of google, so there is little motivation to 'change back to google' if you don't even notice you left google in the first place...

[EditorialGuy]

Different sets of statistics show different trends, but the ones I've seen suggest that any erosion in Google's global market share over the last few months has been almost imperceptible (a fraction of a percentage point at most).

What's more, Firefox (Yahoo's new paid-search partner) has been losing market share on the desktop and is largely invisible on mobile.

It took bing a long time to catch up but they now gives results that would satisfy most people most of the time and that look pretty much the same as google results.

Trouble is, if you want to unseat the market leader, you need to offer something more compelling than "almost as good" or even "as good."

[samwest]

This is exactly the type of competition that Google needs. In my view, they've become a fat, lazy carnivorous dinosaur, causally devouring our content and traffic. It would be nice to see them pushed further down the food chain...like they did to many of us.

[aristotle]

It wouldn't surprise me if this current deal between Yahoo and Firefox gives Firefox a share of the ad revenue from these searches. If so, the boost in Yahoo's search share could be a big bonanza for both companies.

[RedBar]

What's more, Firefox (Yahoo's new paid-search partner) has been losing market share on the desktop and is largely invisible on mobile.

Don't shoot me however is Firefox on mobile? I've never bothered looking for it on my smartphones but yes I have it on my tablets.

[Leosghost]

Don't shoot me however is Firefox on mobile?

yes..as is/are opera..and others..

[Samizdata]

This is exactly the type of competition that Google needs

I'm afraid that it really isn't.

Firefox has been losing market share for quite a while and has been rapidly overtaken by Chrome (one guess as to the default search engine on that browser).

Yesterday's search engine plus yesterday's alternative browser is no threat to Google at all.

As for Apple, the linked article in the opening post argues that Google might actually make more profit if the current deal with Cupertino is not renewed.

Credible competition is what is needed.

...

[RedBar]

yes..as is/are opera..and others.

Ah, apparently not on Windows Phone 8!

[aristotle]

Well in relation to this deal, Yahoo has apparently already won the first battle with Google, since far fewer users have switched back to Google as the default search provider than many had predicted. And as I suggested earlier, if the deal gives Firefox part of the ad revenue, then they will enjoy some of the fruits of this early success too.

[Whitey]

2012 FTC Antitrust Probe Into Google: Documents Exposed Reveal "real harm to consumers and to innovation"

Key staff of the Federal Trade Commission concluded in 2012 that Google Inc. used anticompetitive tactics and abused its monopoly power in ways that harmed Internet users and competitors, a far harsher analysis of Google’s business than was previously known. [wsj.com...] thread over here at [webmasterworld.com...]

If market laziness for switching back is one motivation, another marketing motivation based on consumer sentiment over stories like this that don't go away, may cause further resistance. It all adds up.

[netmeg]

Google's never going to get any real competition from another "search engine." They've pulled too far ahead and that ship has sailed. What will probably happen is some entirely different technology that may not even have been thought of yet will come along to replace them. (And then we'll have all the same issues all over again as it gains in popularity and share, ork ork)

[RedBar]

What will probably happen is some entirely different technology

As a Lumia user I've been very pleasantly surprised by Cortana, it also amuses others in the pub:-)

[EditorialGuy]

As a Lumia user I've been very pleasantly surprised by Cortana, it also amuses others in the pub:-)

I do wonder where they got the name "Cortana," though. It sounds like something Toyota or Hyundai would come up with for the name of a sedan.

Mind you, "Siri" is the name of a Lao coroner in a mystery-novel series by Colin Cotterill that has been around three years longer than the iPhone.

[netmeg]

It is named after Cortana, an artificial intelligence character in Microsoft's Halo video game series, with Jen Taylor, the character's voice actress, returning to voice the personal assistant's US-specific version.

You should hear my 84yr old mom swear at Cortana. She likes Amazon Echo's Alexa a lot better.

[RedBar]

I also have to admit to totally hating the Cortana TV ads in the UK, they are patronisingly pathetic.