Search Engine Optimization

Microsoft and Google are going head to head. It is going to be a bloodbath, with many casualties, acres of destroyed landscapes, broken hearts, and nuclear devastation. Prepare your patriot flags (aka Google or Microsoft) and support the troops fighting for… emm… market share.

The official declaration of war from Microsoft:

• Microsoft launches Bing - Microsoft Corp. today unveiled Bing, a new Decision Engine and consumer brand, providing customers with a first step in moving beyond search to help make faster, more informed decisions.

The official declaration of war from Google:

• Google announces Google Chrome OS – …today, we’re announcing a new project that’s a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.

Strategic Assault From Microsoft:

• Microsoft plans free, online version of Office – On Monday, Microsoft said it would offer a free version of its popular Office software suite that would run on the Internet.

The online office will go head to head with Google Docs, which was initially pocking at Microsoft Desktop Office Suite. Though Google was the first one to move against Microsoft with Google Docs, Microsoft is launching a counter attack scheduled for 2010.

Wars do not start in one day. It may take several months or years before full conflict breaks out.

Sometimes a country that desires war may turn to covert operations and stage attacks on its own soldiers/territory/people and then blame it on the enemy in order to get the war rolling ( Roman Empire, Third Reich, etc), which once started is hard to stop. Sometimes opponents are just too big to go head to head, and both realize the devastation of a full scale war, so they poke each and call names, without ever getting into a fistfight.

This time however, 2 Giants are going head to head and its going to be fun.

Will Anything Happen?

Though I wish to see lots of meat torn on both sides, big wins and big losses, I doubt anything big will happen. Google and Microsoft get their income from completely different sources. Microsoft pulls billions from Office and Windows, while Google gets cash from tiny text link ads in search results and content web sites. The verticals do not compete with each other. Though Microsoft has some market share in search – it is too small, with their search engine mainly used by novice users who search any search box they can find. Bing has changed things a little, but has a long way to go. Microsoft still does not make any money from search. Google Docs on the other hand is used by broke students and recently Washington DC, which is the most notable customers. Docs and other Google paid services contribute small 2% of total Google profits.

I personally think that Google will maintain its status as the undisputed leader in search, simply because Google and search are now synonymous. Microsoft will stay as the undisputed leader in OS, because its synonomous with desktop and most people will go WTF as they get a new computer and do not find Microsoft on it, but some weird unknown OS, on which half the applications cant run!