Tag: Amazon

The Google Empire: Why we need more search engines other than Google

The usage of “network” effect to basically dismiss calls for other search engines or any other institution is a common phrase. The people who use it to say there is something transhistorical about Google and that people should be just accept Google. The thing that Google has is the ability to just control the access to information and also installing their search services on every Android device here. Microsoft got in trouble for the same thing, but now they are basically the underdogs here in the search space with Bing, which is good but is basically unable to gain traction because Google keeps people within their systems. This means that people only see Google and not other competitors.

I use Google’s products as they are not incompetent at making email services such as Gmail. However, they are often used as the only service and the “nerds” or power” users are trying to use other products. For example, think about DuckDuckGo or other search engines such as Bing as I mentioned earlier. However, Bing is the only one that is capable of challenging Google. In the early 2010s, its market share was higher than it is now but it is unable to get beyond a small percentage.

We need more search engine choices.

Why is that we allow people to congregate in the “best”

This best is being propped up with all sorts of trickery and manipulations. The most important thing that can happen now is that we need to break up the app stores of both Google and Apple. This duopoly has allowed for the ossification of many aspects of the internet. It has led to the decline in the quality of desktop sites. Previously, desktop sites had all their charm and qualities. Now it the same throughout and it is not interesting now. Even the corporate sites, the front page of a company’s brand have become little more than portals to their social media sites.

We need competition and while we may have alternatives, we do not currently have competition.

Search engines should be an area of competition and growth and not beholden to only one company. The internet is a space without any limit in space only bandwidth. We should have many choices.

Amazon 30 Years of Ecommerce Triumph and the Transition to a Struggle with Walmart.

Amazon

Amazon is celebrating 30 Years today of Ecommerce. It has much to celebrate as it is one of the world’s biggest websites and is sitting as a titan. Jeff Bezos has become a household name and had a wedding in Venice which showed the man’s immense power and influence. However, the company faces a new rival from a traditional brick and mortar sector, Walmart. These two giants are competing this week to offer incredible deals to their customers. What does this say about the future of Ecommerce.

Walmart in the 2000s had a rather poor reputation. Its customer base was always diverse but there was feeling it was too working class for some. They wanted higher quality goods as well as healthier items in the deli and meals section.

Now, Walmart is having ads that are much more youth oriented than many of their previous ads in the past. They have more young people who are fit and look like they belong in the wealthy areas of America than what was once Walmart’s traditional customers, working class Americans.

Amazon had the advantage for years as it was a digital only store. It’s customers from the start were more wealthy and had more social mobility. They also were more chatty about their interests, as can be seen by the usage of customer reviews.

Walmart has begun to transform itself into that Amazon style store.

Amazon better watch out as Walmart has a huge retail presence and they are even expanding into drone delivery which is another area that Amazon still hasn’t made progress in. Walmart has shown itself to be a resilient and strong company.

The battle of the Ecommerce giants is in full swing and we shall see which one wins the battle of the online stores.

YouTube is past its prime: The lack of categories

It seems that YouTube is continuing to dilute what made the site great among so many users on the internet. In the early days of YouTube, categories used to mean something, now they are largely just a legacy feature which they haven’t removed for some reason. It’s probably because they are sentimental about it. This sentimentality does not seem to integrate well their incessant desire to obsess with putting ads into every part of the site.

Instead of putting ads everywhere, why don’t they try to focus on improving the categories.

However, it seems YouTube is destined to be flooded with tons of ads after spending years letting people upload for free and without fees on the site.