San Jose–Despite the apparent dominance of Google, the Search world is getting much more complicated. In fact, at the evil-free empire’s HQ, built atop a shoreline landfill, the gang is starting to smell something more than residual methane in the wind.
That is clear from this week’s Search Strategies 2008 Conference here in San Jose. What with the growing popularity of behavioral advertising, the announcement by No. 2 player Yahoo of an “opt-out” search option, and the rise of boutique search engines like Tin Eye, the search world is no place for complacency. One of the most-talked about challenges to Google’s dominance could come from No. 3 search provider, Microsoft, which believes its recent acquisition of “natural language” search engine Powerset opens the door to a whole new competitive landscape.
With Microsoft angry and animated by its (so far-) failed attempt to acquire Yahoo, the buzz here in San Jose sees a battle royal coming with Google over the future of search. Should be fun to watch.
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