Or Yahoo. Whatever. If the search giant doesn't get some better competitors, it will get trouble instead, argues Fortune's David Kirkpatrick.
FORTUNE Magazine, By David Kirkpatrick, Fortune senior editor
October 12 2007: 10:29 AM EDT
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Of course Google's not investing in Microsoft or Yahoo. But Google has a big and growing problem that more successful competitors and a more balanced market could help it solve - an ever-growing swath of the world's businesses are becoming dependent on its services.
That's a recipe for regulation. To stave that off, Google needs strong competitors. Google may be too good for its own good. Or maybe its competitors, especially Microsoft and Yahoo, are just inept at copying its successes. The company has taken an overwhelming lead in Internet search, with a corresponding advantage in search advertising. It commands about 50% of the market for Internet search in the United States.
Now it's extending itself further by using related technologies to effectively place ads of many types across the Internet with its AdSense service. And it's trying to sell and broker ads in other media as well. It's making many billions in profit. This all is why its market cap has now exceeded $194 billion - making it by far the most valuable media or Internet business.
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