Google has risen at an unprecedented rate over its ten year history and its innovations have changed the way that cyber surfers search the internet. Some industry commentators are claiming that companies are beginning to get intimidated by Google’s rapid growth and ambitions to move into other areas beyond its core business, search and advertising.
The evidence for this speculation has been seen recently as Microsoft was awarded an estimated 500 million USD contract with telecommunications giant Verizon. It is believed that this was the latest in a trend of hostility toward Google in response to the events that preceded the Federal Communication Commission’s wireless spectrum auction in March 2008.
Due to the evolution of digital technology, UHF transmissions from television broadcasters previously carried on electromagnetic wavelengths have been rendered obsolete. The FCC decided to auction off the spectrum in separate bandwidths to companies wishing to utilize the channels for wireless broadband signals.
Many of the existing telecommunications giants showed a great interest in securing bandwidths to use for wireless signals. Google’s concern was that that these signals would only compatible with certain technology, due to trade agreements between the telecommunications companies who own the bandwidth and manufacturers.
To combat this, Google approached the FCC and requested that in exchange for a guaranteed lowest bid of 4.6 million USD that they introduce legislation stating that all bandwidths must come with open access. This was contested by Verizon Wireless but dropped after a speedy resolution was denied. This pushed the price of the bandwidth acquisitions up, with the US treasury netting just under 20 billion USD, double the pre-auction estimate.
After Google dropped out of the bidding at 4.7 million USD, only 1 million above their minimum bid, it was speculated that Google’s interest was to ensure open access which was responsible for the inflated price. Following this, Verizon gave the Google Android mobile technology a frosty reception in 2008, leading up to the announcement two days ago by Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Effectively it means that Windows Live Search will be offered on Verizon wireless mobile phones which coincided with the announcement that Dell has also made an agreement with Live Search, replacing Google as the integrated application. This all points to the fact that although Google commands over 60% of search provision, distributors are beginning to move away from them, perhaps because they are concerned about Google’s increasing strength.
With Google’s continued domination of search and advertising combined with its innovation in other areas, most recently illustrated by the early release of Chrome 1.0, some industry commentators believe that the competition has been shaken up. This is slightly ambiguous however, as failures such as the demise of Lively, and the moderate success of applications such as Orkut, illustrates Google’s more recent lack of innovation in areas outside of its core business.
Whether the motivation of the deals with Dell and Verizon are purely monetary or not, it is a fact that Microsoft are having to strike desktop and mobile search deals to maintain some stake in the search market. This creates a case for the sentiment that Google’s expansion and success on the web is not winning any friends amongst corporations, however the success of its latest innovations are yet to be seen and the story continues.
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