One additional note re: MSFT taking over the net search biz ...
As noted, Microsoft has failed in the past to overtake such popular products as Quicken, etc., but I think it will be even harder for them to make a dent in this business because of one thing: cost of product. How much do you pay to search on seek? or yahoo? or any search site? Of course, nothing. These sites will be just as free as Microsoft's, whenever it appears.
It's one thing when Windows 95 and MS Office are pre-installed on almost every PC; this has been a great way for Microsoft's products to become as popular as they are. But when someone is searching on the internet, they can type in whatever URL they want, or simply choose a bookmark ... of course, what I'm getting at, is that it's so easy to move between search engines, people will use whichever one they feel comfortable using. How much better can MSFT's technology be? Some people will refuse to use MSFT's search site simply because they hate Microsoft. Advertisers will want to be everywhere, because they know that eyeballs won't be in just one place.
Thanks for listening. Good luck to all. |
