There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer • Hacker News Board

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#11

Post by prawn » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 1:16 AM UTC

IMO, on search and presentation of results, Google can be beaten.

I just do not believe that what they have there now is the best that can be achieved in this field. It's plain, makes limited use of colour to provide more information about results (is this page for a business, is it a forum, is it a MFA info site, is it a blog, or a mailing list archive?), gets pretty messy once the top and side ad positions are full, may rely too much on the title tag in presenting results, could provide larger targets for paging, etc.

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#12

Post by enomar » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 1:17 AM UTC

cdibona wrote: post #8

I disagree. There is only one Google Killer. Google.

That's a nice sentiment, but what does it really mean?

Google would only be completely to blame for lost market share if its competitors were completely stagnant, which they are clearly not.

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#13

Post by joechung » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 1:24 AM UTC

kingsley_20 wrote: post #4

Two men woke up in their campsite one morning to radio news that a man-eating tiger was on the prowl. One man promptly started wearing his running shoes, while the second teased him: "surely, you don't think you're going to outrun the tiger in those?!". "I don't have to outrun the tiger", replied the first man. "I only have to outrun you." They don't have to kill _Google_. Outsurviving Y! Or Bing will do handsomely.…

Outsurviving Y! as a search engine just got easier...

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#14

Post by vaksel » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 1:35 AM UTC

There is no Google killer, but there are thousands of vultures ready to exploit any weakness.

At worst Google will end up as Yahoo/Microsoft, a legacy company that did something important in the past. They just have too much brand equity to fade into the sunset.

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#15

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 1:39 AM UTC

prawn wrote: post #11

IMO, on search and presentation of results, Google can be beaten. I just do not believe that what they have there now is the best that can be achieved in this field. It's plain, makes limited use of colour to provide more information about results (is this page for a business, is it a forum, is it a MFA info site, is it a blog, or a mailing list archive?), gets pretty messy once the top and side ad positions are full…

[deleted]

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#16

Post by david927 » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 3:03 AM UTC

Technology is not Coke. Google is a huge brand, but brand only matters when it comes to brand loyalty, and in technology there is no brand loyalty.

The minute someone comes up with something significantly better (and it will happen), Google will join Yahoo and many others in the "former king of the hill, still important, just not very influential" camp.

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#17

Post by michaelfairley » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 3:29 AM UTC

The Google killer isn't going to be a search engine, just as the Microsoft killer isn't a software company, just as the IBM killer wasn't a computer manufacturer.

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#18

Post by maurycy » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 3:37 AM UTC

It would be interesting to analyse past articles about IBM and Microsoft and check at what point of the cycle, now with Google, we are.

Also, one must realize that there is no such thing as search market, as well as there is no such market as restaurant's market. There is only market of finding answers, or buying food and social status.

Thus, to get a new Google we have to wait for a paradigm shift. Computers enabled IBM; personal computers enabled Microsoft; Internet enabled Google, etc.

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#19

Post by alain94040 » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 4:08 AM UTC

prawn wrote: post #11

IMO, on search and presentation of results, Google can be beaten. I just do not believe that what they have there now is the best that can be achieved in this field. It's plain, makes limited use of colour to provide more information about results (is this page for a business, is it a forum, is it a MFA info site, is it a blog, or a mailing list archive?), gets pretty messy once the top and side ad positions are full…

Fully agree. And it's also almost impossible for Google to change their presentation, because they would immediately confuse millions of users.

This is a weakness that can be exploited by a new competitor. Cuil did some work in that area, it was promising.

Re: There’s No Such Thing As A Google Killer

#20

Post by rimantas » Wed, Jul 29, 2009, 6:11 AM UTC

yan wrote: post #3

"X Killer" never meant that in my experience. It is phrased as such because it generates clicks and ad revenue. That's it. A lot of headlines are hyperbolic because they are designed to garner attention. They also serve to introduce concepts to people who aren't familiar with the field. Saying "web search start up" to a layman isn't going to excite much, but "google killer" will, regardless of accuracy.

Was there ever a "X killer" that actually killed the X? I cannot think of one example. If something is branded that way, must be a loser already. True "X killers" are like ninjas that come unnoticed and unexpected.