November 28, 2005
Search Engine Brands: Google is The Guide
There's been a bunch of buzz the last few days about the Search Engine Experiment. The live test lets you put in a search term: the results from MSN, Yahoo and Google are returned and you're asked to determine which set you think is the most relevant (and therefore best). Google wins, but not by a huge margin. And if you add up Yahoo and MSN, you can very reasonably say that more than half of all people (or, test-takers, if you want to be specific) say that they can find better results at "other than Google".
The question on everyone's mind (notably Seth and Guillaume) is "why?!". If you were to ask people (as Jupiter has) which search engine is best, you get around 70% saying Google. Clearly there is a delta of at least 20% of the audience between actual quality and perceived quality.
So, is the challenge figuring out a better search mousetrap? Nope. There are plenty of interesting experiments out there, and Google's reliance on links represents a significant challenge to keeping their index free and clean.
Comparisons to Coke vs. Pepsi or any other product fall flat as well, and don't really dive into the nature of the brand. The fact is, the Internet represents a great big mystery to nearly everyone. Some have basic needs, some more complex. But everyone needs a guide.
Various brands have taken this guide position over the last decade. Wired Magazine held it for a while. Apple was there (briefly, with the introduction of the iMac), as was Yahoo!
In some sense, the fight for this position is a zero-sum game: only one brand can occupy the guide position. Search engines need to not only look at their functionality, but rather whether or not this functionality gets them closer to the prized position of Guide. Google will continue to maintain this valuable position in the consumer's mind so long as their competitors focus on features, and not benefits.
