Search Engines

All about Search Engines

Search engines are essential in today’s internet. A search engine provides an easy and convenient way to search for anything through millions of websites full of information. The search engine is your way to find whatever you ever need to see. The most prominent search engine is Google. Google is currently the most relevant and widely used search engine. Many devices come with Google as the primary search engine, and many people choose to continue using Google due to its fast speed and reliable results. Yet, despite that, there are plenty of alternative search engines. Engines that fulfill Google’s functionality and possibly surpass it within the same functions. Some search engines even include alternative features to overtake Google. 

What are Search Engines?

Google has risen to the top of the market. We must first define what a search engine even does. The internet is comprised of billions of websites. Search engine companies utilize “spiders” to scan and catalog websites by downloading them and following every link. After scanning them, they’re saved into an “index.” These indexes are similar to databases. Their only function is to store information on different topics and aspects regarding websites.

This is where search engines come in. Search engines scan the databases using the URL, keywords, and several other qualifiers and provide them to the user who inquired. A significant part of these searches and categories are the keywords used on the website. The spiders will search for specific keywords and catalog them in the index and the rest of the relevant information. Also, when a search is performed, the engine filters through the pertinent information while prioritizing the keywords.

Search engines use various algorithms to sort and categorize the most relevant pages to the user. Practically, search engine companies have two aspects to them. The “spiders” and the search engine sort through the database and provide the most relevant information. The article by deepcrawl.com goes further in-depth about search engines.

What Made Google so Successful?

The most significant and widely used search engine is the one provided by Google. According to this article by Britannica, Google was started by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, who saw the opportunity to capitalize on a vast market. Despite Google’s expansion into many markets, it had started as a search engine company. Rather than creating their website, they wanted to develop a way to catalog through existing sites to compete with existing search engines.

The business was fine. Google was picking up traction and had amassed a decent consumer base. However, in 2000, usage exploded due to a partnership with Yahoo. For four years, Google was the primary search engine used by Yahoo websites. After the end of the four-year partnership, Google had reached 200 million queries a day. This partnership solidified Google’s spot on the internet. It became the most widely used search engine through its partnership with Yahoo. And Google had kept that momentum to solidify its place at the top of the market, with three billion searches a day in 2011.

Google’s success can be attributed to a simple insight into the market. Google got an early start in the market and rose to the top with its consistent performance with a boost from Yahoo. Having an early start in a market like this could be detrimental or the ultimate factor in your company’s success. Once again, a significant factor in Google’s success is having an early jump in the market. Despite competitors cropping up here and there, having an early start in the market and consistent performance allowed them to rise past the competition. An expansive database of websites would surely help attract people to use your engine instead of the competition.

Why Aren’t the Alternatives as Successful?

This question ties into the previous section of my paper. Google nearly has a monopoly on the search engine market. According to Investopedia, Google owns 97.68% of the market share in the search engine department. Their biggest competitor, Yahoo, only owns 2.32% of the market share, meaning that the other competitors outside of Yahoo own a fraction of 2.32%. With numbers this drastic, it’d be hard for any competitor to break the mold and outdo Google, so it hasn’t happened and probably won’t happen soon. The sheer grasp of Google search on the market nearly locks out competitors.

The reasoning behind this was mentioned in the previous section about Google’s past. The fact that Google saw this opportunity early on, capitalized on it, and continued to expand their brand allowed them to be where they are today: a towering tech giant that evolved from a simple search engine.

https://www.semrush.com/blog/alternative-search-engines/

Google has a profound grasp on the market that competitors don’t choose to submit and compete for low market percentages. There isn’t a natural way for them to compete. Realistically, the only way for a competitor to outshine Google would be from outside influence. Be it from the government, stakeholders, etc. This is the only realistic way Google could be replaced. The only place where Google isn’t dominating the market is outlawed. China is a prime example. But anywhere Google isn’t banned or restricted, they have completely dominated the market.

How do the Alternatives Compare to Google?

The alternatives to Google are endless. Countless options to Google provide nearly the same service at the same price and similar results. There are over 18 alternatives to Google Search, each with its identity, use, purpose, etc. Most notable are Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and countless others.

Many of these engines have a particular trait that differentiates them from Google. For example, DuckDuckGo is focused on privacy and preserving user data for commercial uses, and Wiki.com allows the users’ search to target specific Wiki articles or other encyclopedias available on the internet.

Google comes pre-installed on many devices, is the default engine on many browsers, and its power leads people to keep using it above any other competitors. While these competitors can compare with Google’s results, they most likely can’t compete with Google. As I’ve previously stated, with how much of a grasp Google has on the market, outdoing Google isn’t exactly possible without external influence.

The only way for these competitors to make a dent in the market is to provide something that Google can’t, and so far, that hasn’t happened. While these competitors offer something unique and achieve similar results to Google Search, they aren’t enough to persuade users. The main thing about the competitors is that the value of their services can’t compete with how fast and efficient Google is in comparison. Even though they have external features and quirks, there is no way to outshine Google at their own game. 

Google’s Controversies

Google has been involved in recent controversies involving privacy and data collection. Google has been accused of collecting data from users’ searches and service usage information and selling it to China. Additionally, they have been accused of collaborating with the Chinese government. A computer science researcher from Vanderbilt University said about Google’s data collection, “But their business model is to collect as much data about you as possible and cross-correlate it to try to link your online persona with your offline persona.” Google had been caught collecting private, sensitive data from users. Google searches and information from their services were collected and cataloged within their company.

When Google was caught under fire for collecting and selling data, it attempted to quell the outrage by tweaking its privacy policies and releasing statements to clarify the situation and provide more context. This was global news, and when people caught wind of this, many decided to stop supporting Google and use alternatives. Despite the outrage and boycott, Google only took a slight hit to its numbers.

The key takeaway from this controversy is that Google is so embedded into the internet and people’s lives that people still use and support Google despite its malpractice being exposed. Google is so widespread and accepted that it barely affected the company despite its actions being exposed to the public eye. After a month or so, Google was already back to their original numbers before the outrage.

What can be Taken Away from the situation?

Owning most of the market is no easy feat, mainly because it is based on the internet, where competing is simpler. The main takeaway from this is how Google Search has monopolized the market. Another big takeaway is the importance of investing in a market early.

If you can capitalize on a growing market similar to Google, it may lead to something grand. Google has done precisely that and expanded into the tech giant it is currently, offering more than 50 services on its bread-and-butter search engine. Consistent performance and presence in the market allowed Google to come out on top after many years of competing with other search engines. Despite the competition, Google still has a firm grasp on the online market due to its successful launch and continued performance. Realistically, the only way for Google to be outdone is from outside influence from stakeholders, the government, etc. Apart from those, I can’t think of how Google could be beaten by its competitors.

Despite the controversy, Google still hasn’t wavered in numbers at all. Despite the external features and quirks these alternatives offer, it’s not enough to outdo the widely accepted and used leading search engine. Overall, the biggest takeaway from Google’s situation is the importance of investing in a market early, dominating that market, and maintaining a hold of that market throughout the company’s lifespan. Google excelled in all of these so far, so they’re so successful now.

Whether you’re a small business or established, you need to stand out on Google’s search results, whether local or global; online marketing and your online content should be part of your everyday strategy.