In the world of search engines, Google is easily the 800-lb. gorilla.
According to SearchEngineWatch.com, in November 2005 Google captured 46.3 percent of all searches. Yahoo came in second, with 23.4 percent, less than half of Google’s share. And MSN came in third with a paltry 11.4 percent.
This is an interesting pattern. In many markets, the dominant competitor holds about a 50 percent market share, the number two competitor manages to squeeze out 25 percent of the market, and all the other competitors fight over the remaining 25 percent.
This pattern repeats itself in so many markets it’s almost as dependable as the law of gravity. Even more important is the fact that almost all of the industry’ profits go to the top competitors. That’s why Jack Welch’s now infamous strategy at GE of becoming the number one or number two competitor or else exiting the market has proven to be so powerful.
Given these basic laws, the question then becomes, can anybody beat out Google, or even Yahoo, in the Internet search business? The chart shows eight other competitors in addition to the top two, and there are probably a multitude in the category of “Others.” Some of the competitors like AOL, Netscape, and Earthlink have probably missed their shot at the top rungs on the ladder. But what about the newer competitors My Way, Dogpile and iWon? Do any of them have a realistic shot at ascending to the throne?
Woof, Woof
The most interesting of these relatively new entrants is Dogpile.com. Owned by InfoSpace, Dogpile bills itself as “all of the best search engines piled into one.” A metasearch engine (meaning a more comprehensive search engine), Dogpile includes results from Google, Yahoo, MSN search and Ask Jeeves. A single search query returns the top results from all four of these popular search engines.
Dogpile is clearly a superior product that produces superior search results. More important, it leverages off the simple fact that only three percent of first-page results are shared by Google, Yahoo and MSN. As a result, searchers get almost no overlap of the very best search results from the most popular search engines. In order to get the same “best of the best,” you would need to do three searches on the three separate leading search engines, which is exactly what happens at Dogpile.
This begs an obvious question -- does anybody really need the results from four search engines?
The answer is yes, if you want the most through and complete search on a topic that matters to you. Plus, Dogpile search results are infinitely more usable. Instead of page after page of links of somewhat questionable value, Dogpile returns 10 to 100 links that are extremely relevant and dead-on accurate. Of all the top search engines, Dogpile clearly offers “best of breed” search results (pun intended). After five or six searches, you’ll never go back to your old method of searching.
Little Dog Versus Big Dog
Can Dogpile beat out Google for the top search engine spot?
According to mindshare branding experts Ries and Trout, Dogpile doesn’t stand a chance of displacing the competitors in the category of Internet search. In their book the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Law # 1 (Leadership) states: “It’s always better to be first to market rather than waiting to get to market with a better product.” There is always a significant first-mover advantage in business, but this is particularly true in marketing. It’s much easier to get into the mind first than convince a prospect that you have a better product than the one that got there first.
The reasons for this are twofold. One, people naturally tend to stick with what they already have. This says that most people will just keep using Google out of habit. Two, the first brand to market generally has an opportunity to become a generic term for that product category, making it even harder for competitors to gain a foothold. When you hear somebody say, “I Googled it,” you know exactly what they mean. I have yet to hear anyone say, “I Dogpiled it.” Or even, “I Yahooed it.” Clearly, Google has become the generic term for the category of “search engine.”
Yet, there is hope for Dogpile. Ries and Trout’s Law # 2 (The Category) states: If it’s impossible to be first in a category, invent a new category you can be first to the market in.” Dogpile can own the subcategory “metasearch engine,” which even sounds bigger and better.
Dogpile might not be able to beat Google or Yahoo at their own game. But if they play their cards right, they can own their own subcategory -- metasearch engine -- and achieve market leadership over the long-term.
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Rod Whitson serves Townsend as President and Chief Brand Strategist. Townsend is expert at helping organizations with innovative products and services develop differentiated, compelling value propositions. Townsend is the largest integrated marketing agency in Southern California. Rod has personally led recent branding engagements with Intel, BAE Systems, Merck, DowPharma, Marsh & McLennan, and the University of California system. He has also worked with a host of successful and not so successful early stage technology and life sciences companies. Since Townsend’s founding in 1993, it has helped clients create market valuation in excess of $80 billion.
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© 2006 Rod Whitson - All Rights Reserved Worldwide
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