Competing with Google

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This week in class, we discussed search engines and how to increase the page rank of your sites.  During the class, the professor talked about the way different companies are trying to change the game in order to compete with Google.  Google is the first choice for most people when using a Search Engine.  It is impossible to think that any search engine can come along that can defeat Google unless they incorporate new features.

One of the new features that was discussed in class is 'Real-Time' search.  The idea behind 'Real-Time' search is to find information that is happening now.  For example, earlier this year, I awoke at about 5am to a large commotion outside my apartment. There were police everywhere and a whole bunch of people in the street.  Curious as to what was going on, I went to Google.  However, I was unable to find anything of interest.  Luckily a quick search on EveryBlock found the reason for the unusual commotion on a normally quiet street.  Twitter is another example used in class that allows people to search for things happening in real time.

Another way to compete with Google is to incorporate your social network in your search.  Bing has recently offered users to sign into their Facebook account and take advantage of their friend's suggestions in their search.  Google is looking to launch something similar to compete with Bing in the near future.  However, Bing was the first to incorporate these new search ideas where Google has been weak in order to try and chip away from Google's dominance.