You’re right, in that there’s no reason another search engine can’t run ads in the same way Google does. Still, in terms of market share, Google overwhelms everyone else, so unless someone introduces something radically different, it is unlikely Google will be removed from it’s top spot. That’s why I think it’s unlikely someone else is going to replicate Google’s success in the same way. I guess it could happen if Google became complacent and allowed they’re product to deteriorate while their competitors improved, but right now that seems unlikely.

What is more likely is that someone like Twitter unseats Google. Or maybe even Facebook. Those are the competitors from left field, in that they aren’t direct competitors of Google, but could unseat Google.

I did not know that Yahoo holds share in Google. That’s interesting. Of course, exactly what Yahoo’s business is hasn’t been entirely clear for a few years now and that’s likely why they continue to pale as compared to Google. It shouldn’t surprise me that amongst all the other things they do and companies they own, they also own a bit of Google. Thanks for that information.

Yes and no. Yes in that if they could somehow capture enough ad revenue to sustain themselves, they likely could have the same advantages. However, the elephant in the room is Google. Any search engine doing ads now has to compete with Google – and that strips away most of the advantages. If I have ads to sell, do I want to go with the small competitor or the giant with market share?

I think that no other company will replicate what Google did in the way Google did it. However, the next company like Google will come out of left field where we all least expect it, just as Google did.