May 30, 2006

Why LOVING Your Customers Helps Google Win. Search Engine Wars - Customer or Shareholders

Jason Calacanis, founder of blogging network, Web Logs Inc gives a screen-shot-by-screen shot comparison of Google, MSN, Yahoo and AOL Search. He notes that it's not necessarily important in this case which search engine powers these searches, as in AOL's case they use Google, but what is VERY interesting is how the search is displayed.

Google displays search results at the very top of the search. The others display the results farther and farther down on the page. After Google comes Yahoo, then MSN then AOL Search.

Instead of showing the "customer's" search results towards the top of the screen, the worst search engines stuff the top of the screen with advertisements, making the customer scroll down to see their search result

What does this demonstrate? This shows that one of the most important things you can do is to LOVE your customers and do what is in their best interest. In the short term other things might make fast money for you, but in the long term your customers will turn to you again and again and again.

One of Jason's readers pointed at the Windows Live search shows its search results even higher. The other side of this entire argument is that it takes more than a great product but also marketing and market share. Google has a MUCH larger viewer base than Windows Live at this time, only time (weeks?) will tell how much Windows Live can grow its search base.

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