Microsoft doesn't like 3rd place in search?

I have linked to an article that talks about the search engine wars and how Microsoft doesn't like being third place in that battle. Neither would I in a situation like this. When there's so much good competition in the search arena, it's hard to make a quantum leap ahead of everyone else. And I don't believe that you can do it just by throwing a lot of money at it and more advertising. That's what Microsoft is doing right now to change people's minds to use their new search engine algorithm. I'm sure they understand that people have now ranked the search engines in their minds and it goes like this: Google, Yahoo and MSN in that order. Once this has been done by the searching public, it's going to be very difficult to change their minds. The only way that that can be done is to persuade people that MSN is better, easier and have some form of counterculture technical appeal.

But this isn't going to happen, because Microsoft doesn't necessarily produce better results although they are different and good. They're really not any easier to use than any other search engine, they look more like Yahoo. Google by its very nature has the simplest interface of anybody and that is what they've captured simplicity in the minds of people. Unfortunately, MSN can forget the countercultural technical appeal because those kind of techies with a lot of influence don't necessarily think that Microsoft has always been on their side. So it's going to be an uphill battle for Microsoft to get people to switch over to MSN. Now if it comes about the Google or Yahoo doesn't provide the search results that people are used to, like when they change their algorithm, then you will see people move from one search engine to another. Google has had updates in the past that have greatly changed search results and caused some people to absolutely hate them and have other people to absolutely love them, so how can a search engine win?

Nobody is going to discount Microsoft's ability to influence a market segment, they are the best at it. But the question remains, will they be able to take MSN from a third place showing to first place in the search engine competition? They'll be able to throw a lot of dollars at this like no one else can and if they have passionate people working on the project, then you might see them go into the number two spot if Yahoo is not careful. But I don't think the way the searching public has gone Google that you can displace that easily with just money. They're so much more to it. Google was the first to really make a search engine the way it was supposed to be and nobody can take that away from them. Being first in the minds of people is always better than spending a lot of money afterwards to try to get first in the mind again.

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