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Blog: Colin White

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Is Google Losing Its Edge?

I seem to be reading more articles pointing out there are now much better options than using Google. If my experience is anything to go by I agree.

1. When evaluating search products for the enterprise, Google may have the mind share and the right price, but there seems to be universal agreement that Google search appliances don't approach the capabilities offered by Endeca, FAST and IBM. Why then are the BI vendors so pre-occupied with supporting Google? Perhaps they should be looking elsewhere.

2. I tried using Google's new blogging software, but it was the most bug-ridden and unusable piece of software I have come across in a long time. I sent bug reports to Google, but the reply said we read these, but don't guarantee to do anything about them.

3. I find more and more when researching the Web, Google may be okay for consumer products, but when it comes to technology research Ask.com is superior and more usable. Perhaps advertisers should be looking elsewhere as well.

4. I have been using Google desktop search for a while, but it bogs down system performance and keeps hanging my computers. I have continued to use it for searching Outlook files because it is so much better than what Microsoft offers. Ken Rudin of LucidEra suggested I try X1, which is a replacement for Yahoo desktop search. It was like a breath of fresh air! It was way faster. more reliable, easier to use, and more capable.

Google's bloated and buggy products seem to resemble those of its main competitor. What's your experience?

  Posted by Colin White on March 28, 2007 2:49 PM |

Comments

I'm with you here, Colin. The only thing I use Google for anymore is finding the URL for a company site or map directions. Google Maps is still probably the easiest to use when compared to MapQuest and Yahoo! Maps, but you are right on about Google not providing great support for doing true research into anything, and their other products continue to lag behind.

They continue to lag behind in any type of search navigation or understanding of relevancy for anything other than websites. These are the main reasons I also switched to X1 for my desktop search, and why I think they are having success with their enterprise search appliance solely because of their brand recognition. I can't find anything using Google Desktop (X1 truly is really great for desktop search), and gmail isn't half as functional as MSN or Yahoo! mail.

It will be interesting to see how long they can rely on their web search and advertising. I wouldn't count them out, but they definitely are still a one trick pony to me.

Posted by: Marc Andrews | March 30, 2007 1:13 AM

Colin, Google has never been the leading enterprise search option. FAST and Autonomy are the leaders with Endeca a credible player.

As for the BI vendors, if any major player -- and Google is one -- approaches them about providing a new platform for access to their systems, hey, why not? Maybe Autonomy didn't ask (most of them). And FAST is working with some of them even if, with AIW, FAST is saying they're unnecessary.

Posted by: Seth Grimes | April 28, 2007 2:07 PM

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