Analyst To Start-Ups: Good Luck Taking On Google

Analysts, pundits and bloggers like to debate how long Google (NSDQ: GOOG) can maintain its position atop the online advertising and search world. Skeptics point to the fact that its exposure to advertising (it represents 99 percent of the company’s revenue) puts it at risk if a nimble start-up were to introduce a search product that takes over the internet (much like Google did almost a decade ago). But Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, following Google’s annual Searchology event, said he was confident Google would fend off competing start-ups and remain on top for the foreseeable future, calling its position as leader in search “insurmountable.” Here is his reasoning:

— Google makes so much money, it can dwarf any start-up’s budget It has spent as much as $840 million in single quarter on various projects, according to Munster.
— The brand commands loyalty; Business Week recently named it a top-10 brand, so a quick migration of users from its service is unlikely, giving it plenty of time to react to competitors.
— Google’s technology has gone through years of tweaking, which makes it difficult to compete with.

Munster says its entirely possible that a start-up may come along with a search product that improves Google’s current offerings. His point is that Google has the resources to quickly react and squash any start-up that does.

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