Twitter blocks links to Meta rival Threads
The move, which has been described as "anti-competitive", may cause headaches for marketers as it could impact brand reach.
Topic: Competition
Google search, network, and YouTube revenue all fell in Q4 2022
Google's Q4 earnings report showed a decline in ad revenue, missing analysts' expectations, due to challenges in the digital advertising market.
Microsoft is improving its ad platform. Here’s why brands should give it a shot in 2023
Microsoft Ads is one of the oldest ad platforms around but is often overlooked. Here's why brands and advertisers should rethink it.
Apple says HomePod is finally coming on February 9, but can it compete?
Apple also said that Siri is now used on more than 500 million devices.
Can Google Express help traditional retail level the playing field with Amazon?
The enemy of my enemy is my friend for Google and major retail partners.
Report: Competitors Amazon, Facebook, Yelp & TripAdvisor Gain Top Google Search Visibility In 2015
Etsy, Instagram, Groupon and Food.com post the biggest improvements in search visibility.
Google’s Eric Schmidt: “Really, Our Biggest Search Competitor Is Amazon”
The attitudes of European policy makers toward Google seem to have hardened of late. On various regulatory fronts, Google faces vocal critics and well-organized opposition. Google’s Eric Schmidt gave a speech earlier today in Berlin seeking to change some of those hardened hearts and minds. Schmidt argued that Google is not only not a monopoly […]
Google Maps Navigation Now Covers 104 Countries
Android Police points out that Google has expanded navigation for Google Maps to 20 additional countries. These are mostly in Africa, the Caribbean islands and South America. From Algeria to Venezuela, the addition of these 20 brings to an impressive 104 the total number of countries where Google Maps offer navigation services. Google Maps is the fifth most […]
It Will Take “Act Of God” For Relcy To Win In Mobile Search
Last week TechCrunch profiled a “stealth” startup called Relcy, which is seeking to build a “native” search engine for mobile. The post mentions the company has raised $9 million in funding so far. In an interview with the site, founder Rohit Satapathy says his company is developing a “PageRank” style approach to mobile search but […]
Google Making Maps App More Competitive With Yelp
Google Maps has updated its app for iPhone and iPad. The new version adds features and content and even makes the app more visually appealing. The new version includes the following improvements: Search results appear with descriptions on the map Easy switching between map and list view of results Reservations via Gmail indicated on map […]
“Better Than Google” Claims: Why Doesn’t Anyone Believe Them?
Microsoft continues to run online its Pepsi-Challenge style ads “Bing It On,” in which a majority of users prefer Bing in a “blind comparison test” with Google. Despite the commercials and despite Microsoft reporting that after extensive testing users preferred Bing 2:1, people generally express skepticism. People simply don’t buy the campaign. Another recent study […]
Amazon Opens Up Maps API To Kindle Developers, Google Street View Covers The Frozen North
After a several year lull the mapping segment is really hot again. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon are now competing fiercely in a newly reinvigorated mapping arena. Yesterday, Amazon announced that its Maps API is now generaly available to developers who want to integrate maps into their Kindle Fire apps. Google Maps isn’t available for Kindle devices. […]
Everybody With A Maps App Is Piling On Apple
It’s a marketing tactic that’s about as old as time itself: When a competitor stumbles, you turn it into opportunity for self-promotion. That’s certainly been the case since the Apple Maps app stumbled out of the gate a week ago on iOS 6. Bing is the latest competitor to call for attention. The company published […]
Apple Maps Could Launch With More Business Listings Than Google
If the two companies’ self-reported numbers are accurate, and if nothing changes between now and then, Apple’s new Maps product will launch later this year with more local business listings than Google. As Bloomberg points out, during Apple’s announcement on Monday, the company said it has “ingested” more than 100 million business listings around the […]
Verizon Blocks Google Wallet, AT&T Likely To Do The Same
It’s being reported today (originally by VentureBeat) that Verizon has blocked implementation of Google Wallet on the new Galaxy Nexus handset. Verizon is the exclusive US carrier of the heavily anticipated device. According to a statement issued to Bloomberg, Verizon is citing security as the rationale: Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, blocked Google Inc.’s […]
Why The Search Engines Still Need Display
Search ad revenues remain the driving force behind the big search engines, Google and Microsoft’s Bing. However, the rise of display advertising and the threat of “new” competitors in the display arena, such as Facebook, are causing the search engines to scramble for a way to get a bigger piece of the display pie. While […]
Does Google+ Rapture Indicate “Pent-Up Demand” For Facebook Alternative?
The early reviews of Google+ (including mine) have been almost uniformly positive — if not glowing. It is a good product, if not entirely original, with some standout features: Hangout, Circles. In the week and a half since launch many people have enthusiastically embraced it, while others are busy trying to handicap it vs. Facebook […]
Amazon Preempts Google Music With Cloud Player Streaming For Android
It would appear that Amazon is becoming Google’s best frenemy. The company launched its well designed Android app store last week and yesterday surprised a lot of people by introducing Amazon Cloud Drive and Cloud Player. No, it apparently doesn’t work on Apple devices. Beating Google Music to market it offers music storage and streaming […]
Bing’s Search Results Are A ‘Cheap Imitation’, Google Says
The war of words between Google and Bing continues with the latest pair of jabs coming from Google. In a blog post this afternoon, Google’s Amit Singhal reiterates the claims we reported this morning that Bing is copying Google’s search results. But he also goes a step further, or perhaps a couple steps, and accuses […]
Schmidt Downplays Google’s Competition With Facebook, Apple & Well … Almost Everything
Speaking today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, outgoing Google CEO Eric Schmidt deflected suggestions that Google is in competition with the likes of Apple and Facebook, and rejected speculation that those fights are the real reason that Larry Page is taking the CEO’s chair. As Forbes reports, Schmidt told journalists that his […]
Bartz: ‘Creepy’ Facebook Could Be Yahoo’s Top Competitor
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz says Facebook has a “creepy” amount of personal information about its users, and could become Yahoo’s number one competitor because of the value of that data. Her comments came about 10 days ago at the USA Today CEO Forum in Atlanta, and have just been published today on the paper’s website. […]
Google & Apple Extend Search Deal, Emerge As “Frenemies” Not “Froes”
WPP Group’s CEO Sir Martin Sorrell was the one who coined the term “froe” to describe Google. He said in 2008 that Google had gone from being a “frenemy” to a “froe” of the agency holding company. Presumably “froe” is a more direct competitor than a “frenemy”– at least that’s the implication. Google and Apple […]
Feds Consider Google-ITA Deal: Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t
In what is becoming an annual ritual Google announces a dramatic acquisition, pundits speculate about the potentially market-changing impact and anti-trust investigators give it a long, hard look — only to allow it in the end. Last year the transaction in question was AdMob; this year it’s ITA software. Since the roughly $700 million deal […]
Tablets & Trash Talk: Apple Competitors Prepare To Bring Their ‘Me Too’ Products To Market
Now that the iPad has made the world safe for tablets, it would appear the tablet invasion is beginning in earnest. Google is reportedly working with Verizon and HTC on an iPad competitor and LG is preparing to release an Android tablet in Q4 this year, the same time frame as the rumored Verizon-sponsored Android […]
Twitter Preparing Official Tweet Buttons: Report
Twitter is planning to launch an official “Tweet” button this week, according to Mashable. The button will come in three forms, according to internal Twitter documents that Mashable has published. When asked to confirm Mashable’s report and the authenticity of the internal documents, a Twitter spokesperson would only tell us, “Stay tuned.” The button will […]
Think You’re Ready For The Microsoft-Yahoo Search Alliance? Maybe Not
We’re only one month away from the first phase of the Microsoft—Yahoo search alliance. Are you ready? By now, there have been numerous opinions published on the upcoming alliance, but not much to set tactical expectations. Some experts such as Kevin Lee of Didit.com and Bryan Weiner of 360i would claim that there won’t be […]
Will “Google Me” Be A Worthy Facebook Challenger Or Will It Be DOA?
Let’s take “Google Me” seriously as a social networking site, successor to Orkut and overall Facebook challenger. As everyone by now knows Digg’s Kevin Rose started a wave of coverage when he asserted over the weekend, in a Twitter post now removed, that Google was working on a Facebook competitor. Yesterday I asked Google for […]
FTC Decides Not To Block Google-AdMob Acquisition
The champagne is flowing in Mountain View; the FTC has declined to sue to block Google’s $750 million acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob. It appears that the public-facing rationale for the decision is the entry of Apple into the mobile ad market. The FTC put out the following statement: In a statement issued today, […]
Misplaced Concern: The FTC, Google, Apple & United Airlines
Google was hoping that the announcement of Apple’s iAd program would help with approval of the AdMob acquisition at the FTC. However that doesn’t seem to be the case; Bloomberg reported on Friday that the FTC seemed poised to try and block the deal: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission staff is urging the filing of […]
US Regulators May Be Gearing Up For Google-AdMob Challenge
Beyond the iPhone one could convincingly argue that the best thing to happen to mobile advertising in the past year was Google’s announced acquisition of AdMob. It got everyone’s attention — especially the $750 million (stock) price tag. It also single-handedly boosted the profile of all of AdMob’s competitors. As an almost direct response Apple, […]
Is Facebook Becoming More Important Than Google?
That intentionally “inflammatory” headline is inspired by an article that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday, “Facebook directs more online users than Google.” The article cites Compete data and says, “Facebook has passed search-engine giant Google to become the top source for traffic to major portals like Yahoo and MSN, and is among the […]
Google Buzz? MSFT, Yahoo Say ‘Been There, Done That’
The dust is still settling on Google’s PR blitz today over Google Buzz, but that hasn’t stopped both Microsoft and Yahoo from speaking up. Their message is simple: been there, done that. Dharmesh Mehta, Director of Product Management for Windows Live, shared this statement with Search Engine Land this afternoon: Busy people don’t want another […]
Apple CEO: Google Wants To “Kill The iPhone”
According to a hearsay report in Wired, Apple CEO Steve Jobs allegedly said the following at an internal town hall meeting for Apple employees coinciding with the launch of the iPad: We did not enter the search business, Jobs said. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We […]
Report: Microsoft And Apple Discuss Making Bing Default Engine On The iPhone
BusinessWeek is reporting and solidifying what was previously an almost unthinkable rumor: that Bing might become the default search engine on the iPhone (and iPod Touch). The way BusinessWeek frames it this becomes a case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Google and Apple are increasingly fierce competitors. But here’s an amazing […]
Apple iPhone To Drop Google For Bing?
A BusinessWeek piece named Apple vs. Google discusses much of the recent competitive business products the two companies have. On page three of that article there are some analysts who suspect Apple may drop Google as the default iPhone search provider, in favor of Bing. Jonathan Yarmis, research fellow with the consulting firm Ovum, was […]
FTC To Take A Closer Look At Google-AdMob Transaction
The 30-day window for the FTC’s review of Google’s $750 million acquisition of AdMob is now up and the regulatory agency has decided it’s going to take a closer look at the impact of the deal (“second request”) on the nascent but rapidly evolving mobile advertising sector. This means that the FTC will be gathering […]
MapQuest (Finally) Launches Street Views With “360 View”
We’re more than two years in with street-level photography, although Google was the only game in town for most of that time among the majors. There were also less-well-known independents such as Everyscape and MapJack. Then two weeks ago, Bing made a big splash with a very enhanced Silverlight version of Bing Maps and national […]
More Detail On Google Phone From A User; Makes Droid “So Last Month”
Somebody (not a Google employee) contacted me just a few minutes ago saying he’d read my Google Phone At Large post and wanted to fill me in. He said he had a chance recently to hold and use the phone, which is an HTC-manufactured device, as all the discussion in the past 36 hours and […]
Google’s Schmidt: Independent Yahoo Still Important To Competition
Last year, Google and Yahoo were denied a deal that would have left Yahoo with its own search technology, after the US Department Of Justice rattled its anti-trust saber. This year, Yahoo’s pursuing a deal to sell off its tech to Microsoft. While Google CEO Eric Schmidt sees his company’s former deal as “part of […]
Google Fires Back At Bing, Launches “Explore Google Search”
I wrote earlier that it was probably driving Google crazy to see people “amazed” that Bing is doing stuff that Google itself has long offered. Now Google’s fighting back. The first shot? A new Explore Google Search page. Google’s had help pages like this before. For example, this one still remains, showing various special features […]