New York, Jan 11: Google (GOOG) controls 67% of the search engine market in the U.S.
and nearly 90% of market in the U.K.
The former underdog defied odds by
trying to alter the shape of the Internet just 15 years ago. It is now the most
visited Web site in the nation.
Daniel Franklin, editor of The
Economist’s World in 2013, says when companies are at the top of their game they
need to become extra vigilant.
"That’s when technology companies need to
be worried because there’s always the next start-up that comes along and
challenges their preeminence," he notes in the attached clip.
“Google
could find that people are worried about privacy issues,” he adds. "They’re
worried about the tracking issue.”
Google has been subject to
investigations by various authorities based on its invasion of user privacy.
France’s data-protection authority is currently investigating Google, and the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission fined the company nearly $23 million for tracking
Safari users. The European Union is drafting new data protection legislation and
the U.K. is responding by introducing a communications bill that limits
data-mining power.
New search companies are seeing an opening in the
market and are quickly establishing relationships with Web users. Search engine
Duck Duck Go promises not to track any of its users and doesn’t employ cookies.
The company's search queries have more than tripled in the past year but its
interface is eerily similar to Google’s; the site even has an “I’m feeling
ducky” button.
Google will have to juggle an increasing number of
investigations and regulations against its data policy in 2013 as well as
monitor new search engines seeking to steal market share. But just how serious
are these threats?
“I’m not saying Google will find itself vulnerable,”
says Franklin, “but these things can change very fast so Google has to be
concerned and they will be watching all these things very closely I
imagine.”
Ends
SA/EN
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