An Introduction to Search Engines and Web Navigation, Article Review Example

Google is the world’s most used search engine, with its popularity stemming from years of technological development. The Google search engine has managed to lead the industry owing to a number of features that allow it the edge of existing and new search engines in the market. Currently, about 57% of all World Wide Web searches are executed using the Google search engine.

How the Google Search Engine Works

Google is a crawler search engine that exists in two forms. The most common is as a stand-alone search engine, Google.com, where internet users can simply type in a key word related to the desired information they are looking for. The second form is as and embedded search engine where it is embedded into a website to allow for searches within the given website and in the World Wide Web. Google’s search engine automatically generates the results of a given search by compiling web pages, web sites and other forms of documentation (Levene, 2013). The search engine fundamentally works based on an algorithm to deliver results for a specific search.

The Google search engine algorithm is built to keep track certain aspects of an HTML page. These were the words that are found in a given page and the location of these words. Important things such as the key words that define the information on the HTML page are taken indexed, with special attention given to the position of these words (Levene, 2013). This included the title and the subtitle. Meta tags were also included with other words that are found in other useful positions such as the conclusion. The Google web crawler was designed to omit the articles to enhance speed and efficiency of the algorithm.

How the Google Engines Make Money

The Google search engine realizes revenue through paid advertising. This is achieved in numerous ways. The first and most common is through listing websites or a given product or service on the Google Search Page. These get preference during searches and the businesses pay Google for every click their link receives. This can also be done by Google running ads on websites that have opted to partner with Google. The businesses having their product and/or service advertised pay Google per click on their link. Google shares the revenue with the websites that host Google Ads.

Google’s Search Engine Technology and Business Model

Google’s main source of revenue is advertising. The Google Ads. program was launched in the United States where its premium sponsorship dominated the US market with over 67% of the market share (Borwn, 2011). This program was launched in other countries through local domains and languages. Google epitomizes a global business model that is target global expansion.

Google the Threat to Governments

Most governments have, and still do, feel threatened by Google. Google is a big corporate with global ties. Furthermore, it is heavily relied on by most individuals, meaning all information pertaining to all its users is stored by Google. By virtue of Google being an American company, other sovereign nations feel threatened by the possibility of tracking and storage of information for espionage reasons. The 21^st Century has been heralded as the information age. It is generally accepted that currently, information is a form of currency. Information can be equated to power. As such, governments feel threatened at the prospect of losing power to a technologically superior and heavily relied on corporation.

Government Responses

Most governments have responded to the threat of Google through legal channels. Japan felt threatened by the large amounts of advertising revenue that external search firms such as Google received. Little of this income was realized by local firms. As such, to protect their local industry, Japan sued Google on grounds of censorship.

French companies sued Google on grounds of trademark counterfeiting. Most French luxury goods firms sued Google for having other firms have their ads pop up for every search related to the original manufacture’s product. Louis Vuitton was the most prominent of the affected firms with counterfeit hand bag producers paying for their ads to appear or pop up upon any search related to Louis Vuitton.

The use of the name Gmail led to a law suit against Google in Germany. Gmail was already a registered trademark and Google had to change their product name to Google Mail. Google posed a technological threat to the German government and was forced to take necessary steps to protect its own interests.

Govern-Sponsored Search Engines

Government sponsored search engines do pose a threat to the sovereignty of nations. Google is undeniably the most used search engine globally. This places Google at a strategic position in terms of data and data mining. In the information age, information is largely regarded as currency. Knowing is owning, or potentially owning. The Google search engine has been found to have data-mining qualities where users are forcefully bombarded with ads that are relevant to their search history. This depicts the Google search engine as a potential tool of espionage as it has the ability to collect crucial information based on a user’s search history and potentially be used to create a profile for that user.

Google’s Strategy

Google can secure its dominance in countries that are skeptical about the underlying security threat with the use of Google and its products. This can be done by realizing the tradeoff between profitability and customer loyalty. Customer loyalty can only be realized when the customer feels safe to share information with the Google. Through the application of Corporate Social Responsibility, Google can gain customer confidence while allowing their users the option of turning of the ads and stop tracking of their browsing data and history.

Entry Strategy Lessons

Different markets require different entry strategies due to the underlying cultural and social differences that are unique to each market. While most markets are influenced by their economic development, culture and social norms tend to dictate the usability of given business’s products and/or services. Most economies would invite an essential services or good as long as it does not infringe or in any way threaten their identity. This identity is seen in their local businesses and industries. As such, Google has to find a way to offer their services with these markets while promoting the local industry so as to realize collective growth. A purely capitalistic approach to market entry may prove to be detrimental to Google’s revenue in the long-run.

References

Borwn, B. C. (2011). The ultimate guide to search engine marketing : pay per click advertising secrets revealed. New Delhi: Vision Books.

Deresky, H. (2014). International management: managing across borders and cultures : text and cases. Boston: Pearson.

Levene, M. (2013). An Introduction to Search Engines and Web Navigation. Hoboken: Wiley.

Miller, M. (2011). The ultimate web marketing guide. London: Pearson Educaion.