Are Search Engines Becoming Irrelevant? and/or The web is constantly changing - nothing stays the same - including how we use the Internet. Can a change in our surfing habits really diminish the influence and power of all search engines - including the mighty Google?
Why not search ClickBank's 10,000 Products:
 Please feel free to contact us. contact@bizwaremagic.com Notebook Computers Guide | Spyware Remover Guide | RSS/Blogging Guide | Optin E-mail Tool Kit | Best Marketing Software | Best Affiliate Programs | Basic Tool Kit | Best Free BizWare | Internet Marketing Links | Internet Fax | Corporate Business Gifts | SiteMap | Affiliate Directory | Internet Marketing Articles | Contact | Bizware Home | |||||||
Are Search Engines Becoming Irrelevant?
Copyright © 2009 Titus Hoskins
While Google and Bing/Yahoo fight for dominance with countless search
engine battles, could it be possible that both are fighting a losing war?
Wouldn't it be a bit ironic if all online search engines become irrelevant,
sooner rather than later? Those who consider that question preposterous
or downright laughable, should look towards their own surfing habits for
a sobering answer. Have your surfing habits changed? Do you still use
the web in the way you used it a year ago, 5 years ago or even 10 years
ago?
More importantly, what will your surfing habits be like in the forseeable future?
Nothing stays the same, including the Internet and how we use it. As the
web evolves and our usage of it matures, will we still have a need for
search engines, regardless of whether it be Google, Bing/Yahoo or some
other search engine?
Will they all soon become obsolete or worst yet - irrelevant?
While it is way too premature to pen "The Rise and Fall Of The Google Empire"
mainly because Google, along with all the other search engines, are not going
anywhere. But can a change in surfing habits, how we actually use the web, put
a major dent in Google's search numbers? And those numbers are mighty impressive,
according to comScore Google handled roughly "two-thirds" of all the web
searches done in the United States in October ('09) and in other parts of
the world those numbers may even be higher.
However, are we asking the right question, we probably all know who will be
king of the hill, but will there be a hill worth fighting for in the years
or even decades to come?
The core question which has to be asked is this: will online surfers who
are becoming increasingly web savvy, have any need for search engines?
Or instead, will they in ever increasing numbers by-pass the search engines
and go directly to web sites to find what they're looking for on the net?
Human nature dictates we take the shortest route to our destination, search
engines will be no exception to that rule.
Will the "next generation" web surfer really need a search engine in the first place?
Keep in mind, the web is in its infancy, but already we are seeing the
rise of countless keyworded domains which are becoming branded into the
web surfer's psyche. These domains and the companies that own them are
pouring millions into advertising and brand recognition. Many are doing
intensive cross media promotion in the "Real World" on television, radio,
newspapers and so on. The fallout could have long-lasting benefits that
even they can't imagine.
Once these big brand keyworded domains become itched into our brains and
our online experience, the whole ball-game is on the verge of changing.
Faster and more relevant results can be found by going directly to those sites.
If you want to find a book you go directly to Amazon or Barnes & Noble,
if you wanted to find a film you go directly to RottenTomatoes or IMDB
(Internet Movie Database), if you want to find a video you go directly to
YouTube, if you news you go to CNN, if you want to find solid information
you go to Wikipedia, if you want to find a lawyer you go directly to
lawyers dot com... well you get the picture.
Will our surfing habits eventually make search engines obsolete?
However, current search numbers don't indicate any mass movement away from
using search engines. Actually, the complete opposite is true, according to
a global study done by comScore there were over 113 billion searches carried
out in July 2009, that's up or grown by 41% since July 2008. Only disclaimer
here - the Internet itself is still growing with hundreds of millions of new
users each year - only when this growth rate levels off, will we be able to
better judge the search numbers. Usage per user, how many searches a person
makes in a month would also be a good variable to measure, although even that
number can be misleading - have you ever used a search engine not for search
but as a spell-checker or to check the proper grammar usage of a word or phrase?
But over a longer time period, will major brand-name sites start eating
into the search engine's market share? Will they give some much needed
competition for the major search engines such as Google or Bing?
Valuable keyworded domains will only become more powerful as they pour more
money into promotion and building their online empires. Large brand name sites
like the ones above will present major competition for the search engines, in
an all out battle for the hearts and minds of surfers. Truth be told, Google
should probably be more worried about Wikipedia than any other search engine.
It is curious to note that Google places a Wiki search bar in the Google SERPs
so that Google users stay within Google longer while searching Wikipedia.
Never underestimate human nature - it can take on the mightiest of opponents,
even Google!
Will those next generation web users follow the above scenario and have little
use for search engines? Could it possibly mean that search engines will play
more of a supporting role, rather than be a star performer in the future web?
Will they be delegated to a back-stage job, fueling searches within sites, rather
than outside of them. Powered by Google could have much more significance in the
"new" web, where no doubt, there will always be a role for the little search
engine that could.
Nor will these search engines give up without battling for those surfers with
a media-blitz of their own. Look how quickly Bing has been branded into our daily
lives and Google has countless other free programs and services which will keep
its brand name front and center. As mentioned before, they're not going anywhere;
but despite how big those search engines become, the lowly surfer will have the
final say on how they actually use the web. One click at a time.
....Related Article....
Reinventing The Wheel - Google's Plans for Search in the Future.
Matt Cutts gives some very insightful information on what directions
Google will take towards making search more useful and much more diverse
in the very near future.
