mkt 535 marketing strategy and planning - team project - google inc
TRANSCRIPT
Strategic Plan Project
Google Inc.
G-Team: Daniela Resendiz, Ran Huo, Zi Mei, Yaqiong Gao
I. Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 1
II. Company Overview ....................................................................................................................... 2
1) Company background ............................................................................................................. 2
2) Summary of Financials ............................................................................................................ 2
3) SWOT Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 2
a) Strengths ................................................................................................................................ 2
b) Weaknesses ........................................................................................................................... 3
c) Opportunities ........................................................................................................................ 3
d) Threats ................................................................................................................................... 3
III. Industry Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 5
1) External Environment ............................................................................................................. 5
2) Porter’s Model .......................................................................................................................... 5
a) Threat of Potential Entrants – Low .................................................................................... 5
b) Threat of Substitutes – High ............................................................................................... 6
c) Degree of Rivalry – Medium ............................................................................................... 6
d) Bargaining Power of Suppliers – Low ................................................................................ 6
e) Bargaining Power of Customers – Medium ....................................................................... 6
3) Major Competitors .................................................................................................................. 6
IV. Target Market ................................................................................................................................ 9
V. Identification and Analysis of Key Issues .................................................................................. 12
VI. Strategic Alternatives .................................................................................................................. 15
1) Alternative #1: Customer Relationship Management ........................................................ 15
2) Alternative #2: Confrontation .............................................................................................. 16
3) Alternative #3: Product Line Stretching Strategy .............................................................. 17
VII. Formulation of Strategy & Recommendation of Tactics ..................................................... 20
Reference: ........................................................................................................................................... 23
1
I. Executive Summary
Google Inc. is the world’s leading Internet search engine. It was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and
Sergey Brin and became the world’s largest search engine by 2000. Google Search is a free service.
Consequently, Google relies on AdWords, an advertising platform, for approximately 96% of its revenues.
Google reported annual income for 2014 at $66,000 million. The current market capitalization for
Google is $393.71 billion with 286.94 million shares outstanding and an EPS of $20.27.
As technology develops, more people have smart phones, laptops, computers, and other wireless
devices than ever before. Consequently, Internet traffic has increased exponentially. The most frequent
users of Google Search are younger, tech savvy, whiter-collar, and college-educated people.
For this paper, Google Search, in combination with AdWords, was analyzed through the external
environment, competitors, and current issues. After analysis, G-Team came up with strategies that will help
Google Search improve its performance within the industry. Three primary strategies were developed,
which include customer relationship management, confrontation, and product-line stretching. These
strategies were developed to solve Google Search’s current issues, especially its low relevancy. The
relevancy issue has forced search engine users to switch to Google’s biggest competitor, Bing. The
strategies and tactics are geared towards helping Google take back its market share and win back previous
users.
2
II. Company Overview
1) Company background
Google Inc. is a worldwide technology leader whose mission is to “organize the world’s
information and make it universally accessible and useful” (U.S. SEC, 2014). The web search and
advertising segments of Google are one of the most recognized brands in the globe. According to David
Goldman (2015), Google Search users conduct more than one hundred billion searches per month. Their
unique advertising platform, AdWords, displays relevant advertisements, which serve as another source of
information. AdSense, another advertising platform, allows ads to be published using text, video, or
images. The company also offers state-of-the-art technology in consumer content operating systems and
platforms, enterprise such as Google My Business, and hardware products through Motorola, Intellectual
Property, and Sales and Support (MarketLine, 2014). According to David Goldman from CNN Money
(2015), in 2015, Google will launch Google Wireless, a venture expected to provide complete cell phone
service including the ability to talk, text, and have an Internet connection.
2) Summary of Financials
During fiscal year 2014, Google reported revenue of $66,000 million. The company's revenue grew
at a CAGR of 26.11% during 2009–2013, with an annual growth of 15% in 2014. The company recorded
an operating margin just below 25%, a gross profit of $44,668 million, operating expenses of $49,505
million, and a net income of $14,444 million (Google Inc., 2015). The current diluted EPS is valued at
$20.27. Google Inc.’s stock trades in the range of $572-$582. The market capitalization for Google is
$393.71 billion with 286.94 million shares outstanding (Google Finance, 2015).
3) SWOT Analysis
a) Strengths
MarketLine states that Google’s strength is its global search engine dominance. Google's share in the
U.S. core search market was approximately 67.6% in January 2014 (Google Inc. SWOT Analysis, 2015).
According to ICD research, Google’s revenue increased by 16.1% from $50,175 million in 2012 to
$59,825 million in 2013. This was due to the increase in paid clicks on Google sites and Google Network
3
Members' websites, which was approximately 25% up from 2012. Strong financial performance helps the
company to maintain its stand in the market (Google Inc., 2015).
Google is a leader in research and development capabilities. Google’s strong R&D capabilities allow
it to implement innovative technologies and deliver advanced products and services. Google’s R&D
expenses were $6.8 billion, $3.8 billion and $5.2 billion in 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively. (GlobalData
- SWOT Analysis, 2014).
b) Weaknesses
GlobalData warns that Google’s revenue dependence could have an adverse impact on its business
operations and profitability. In 2014, 96% of revenue came from advertising. Adverse macroeconomic
conditions can negatively impact the demand for advertising (GlobalData - SWOT Analysis, 2014).
According to ICD research, lawsuits filed against Google may affect its bottom line. In 2014, a
consumer rights law firm filed a national class-action lawsuit against Google, additionally, Google also
agreed to pay a total of $324 million to settle a lawsuit filed by technical workers. Lawsuits result in
penalties and may affect the company’s reputation in the industry (Google Inc., 2015).
c) Opportunities
According to GlobalData, Google's Android operating system (OS) is one of the fastest growing
operating systems. Google invested in display, mobile, and enterprise businesses. As of January 2012, more
than 250 million Android devices were activated globally. The growth in the demand for Android OS
encourages the company's investments and increases its profitability (GlobalData - SWOT Analysis, 2014).
A key growth area for Google would be mobile advertising space, which promises to be prominent.
According to industry estimates, the global mobile advertising is expected to generate total revenues of $18
billion in 2014 compared to $13.1 billion in 2013 and is expected to reach $41.9 billion in 2017. Google
has a strong presence in the mobile ad segment and will benefit from the growth in the segment (Google
Inc. SWOT Analysis, 2015).
d) Threats
According to ICD research, Google operates in a highly competitive market, which could affect its
4
business and operating results. Competition could intensify with the entry of new competitors, development
of new technologies, products and services, and convergence (Google Inc., 2015).
Invalid clicks pose a major threat to Google because it derives a majority of its revenue from
advertising and fraudulent clicks could expose it to related lawsuits. Click fraud artificially inflates the
number of clicks, and increases the pay per click advertising fee charged to advertisers. Avoiding invalid
clicks should remain the company’s highest priority as they could have an adverse effect on the company’s
brand image and profitability (Google Inc., 2015)
The Federal Trade Commission has passed several rulings, which have cost Google large amounts in
money due to fines, reparations, and costs of restructuring. Google must ensure no cases arise with the
FTC as they drain resources (Federal Trade Commission, 2014).
Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to start producing cars as soon 2020. This will
be a direct threat for Google as most cars currently use Google Maps as a navigation platform and Google
Search for those cars equipped with wireless internet (Bloomberg, 2015).
5
III. Industry Analysis
1) External Environment
MarketLine’s (2014) reports that Google operates in over one hundred different languages and in
over fifty countries to reach 3 billion people with access to the Internet. U.S. states with populations that
have higher than median incomes and college graduation rates prefer to use Google Search at least 50% of
the time (CNN Money 2014). McKinsey & Company (2014) state that 4.4 billion people worldwide are
still not connected to the Internet due to lack of incentives for people to get connected, low incomes and
affordability, user capability, and lack of infrastructure. This could soon change as the Federal
Communication Commission recently ruled that Internet service will be regulated as a utility and will be
provided at a constant price (National Public Radio, 2015).
Google Search has been heavily watched for intellectual property infringement (MarketLine
2014). Google continues to comply with FTC rulings at a high economic cost.
Today’s culture is known as “On-Demand Economy.” Business Insider (2014), reports that
consumers demand “immediate access to media, and other online functionality through smartphones.” The
“on-demand economy” has resulted in a spike in online commerce. Google Search is a primary means to
research a potential purchase.
2) Porter’s Model
a) Threat of Potential Entrants – Low
Google, Yahoo and Bing are industry leaders, leaving little room for other entrants. According to
Wugang Zhao and Edison Tse (2011), the incumbent search engine has a first-mover advantage, and,
unless the new entrant has a cost advantage, a market leader will remain a leader. Google’s technology
cannot be beat; its current infrastructure is able to process search queries much more quickly, cutting the
average search time from 3 seconds to .2 seconds. New industry entrants will be unable to compete with
the brand recognition associated with Google, Google Drive, G-mail, or other Google products and services.
6
b) Threat of Substitutes – High
According to Jones Gareth, due to the rise of Facebook and other social networking sites, search
engines are directly affected in two ways. First, advertisers are questioning the value of their paid ads with
search engines. Facebook and other sides could offer the opportunity to advertise for free. Second, because
end users do not have a switching cost, they have no incentive not to switch between search engines and
social media sites (2008).
c) Degree of Rivalry – Medium
The rivalry between search engines is fierce, with Yahoo and Bing continue to innovate and improve
on previous shortcomings. Google has seen these two rival search engines capture more market share each
year. Yahoo! and Bing had market shares of 2.6% and 4.0% in 2014, respectively. Currently, their
segments are 4.13% and 4.43% of the total market (Statista, 2015). Google continues to be the market
leader and invests in technology that will ensure its market leader position.
d) Bargaining Power of Suppliers – Low
Google relies heavily on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to bring the service to end users, however,
due to recent FCC rulings dictating that ISPs will be regulated like public utilities and must offer a constant
affordable price, IPS’ bargaining power has diminished (National Public Radio, 2015). Google Fiber, an
Internet and TV service, has begun to be used by the public but cannot support Google’s own search engine
platforms yet (Google Fiber, 2015).
e) Bargaining Power of Customers – Medium
The Google Search end users have little power to negotiate because they do not pay for the service,
however, they can decide to stop using the service, which would directly affect the advertising revenue for
Google Search. Advertisers, another customer group, control the prices they pay for the auctioned
advertising space (AdWords, 2015).
3) Major Competitors
Google’s major competitors include: Yahoo & Bing. Overall, paid search spending was up 21% in
Q4 of 2014, as click traffic increased by 14% and cost-per-click (CPC) rose by 6% (Business wire, 2015).
7
It remains uncertain if Yahoo! or Bing will become the default search engine for Apple Safari in 2015 -
which accounts for almost half of all paid search traffic - the result could be a shift of more than 10% of
search market share away from Google.
In December, Yahoo! became the default search option for Firefox in the US, supplanting Google
after its ten-year run (Business Wire, 2015). One of Yahoo!’s strengths is the diversity in their products and
services in search, communications, digital magazines, video, photo management, and web service, and
mobile applications. The diversity aids Yahoo! in meeting the needs of customers and improves its
competitive position in the market (Global Data, 2015). Yahoo! has a strong geographic presence, caters to
markets and provides its different versions of Yahoo! in more than 40 countries (Global Data, 2015).
Yahoo! suffers from a low return and reported return on equity and return on assets of 10.4% and 8.1% in
2013 as compared to 27% and 23% in 2012. The decrease is attributable to 65.3% fall in net income from
$3,945 million in 2012 to $1,366 million in 2013. Generating better business and containing costs to report
higher returns remains an area of concern. Though the company has operations worldwide, it generates
close to 74% of its revenue from the Americas, which could have an adverse impact on its business
operations. Overdependence on a particular region could increase the risk to the company. (GlobalData,
2015). Yahoo!'s share of the U.S. search market on desktop PCs is currently about 10 percent (Asia News
Monitor, 2014).
Yahoo! is pushing for original video content, as well as technology that will drive more ad revenues.
Yahoo!! is partnering with well-known Hollywood producers. Additionally, Yahoo signed a development
deal with Vuguru to create scripted series for its Yahoo Screen video portal. Yahoo! is also focusing on
mobile devices and tablets to generate and grow its revenue. In 2012, Yahoo! launched a new and improved
version of Yahoo Mail for mobile devices. Yahoo! recently redesigned its Flickr application for iPhone and
iPod touch, making it easier to capture, share, and discover photos. The new Flickr application allows users
to share photos through Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr (Hoover’s company record, 2015).
The other major competitor is Bing. Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN
Search) is the current web search engine offered by Microsoft. Bing was released and fully online in 2009.
8
Bing quickly became the third largest search engine on the web after its competitor Google and Yahoo!
(SEO, 2011).
Bing has more attractive and accurate web search results than Google. According to Adobe Digital
Index’s recent digital advertising report, Bing search results are driving higher quality traffic to sites
compared to Google (Gorman, 2014). Bing has higher revenue-per-visit for retailers. Retailers are getting
higher revenue-per-visit from Bing traffic than from Google. Bing has less cost per clicks, thus benefiting
business advertisers. As a product of Microsoft, Bing has wide reach because it’s owned by one of the most
trusted brands – Microsoft.
Because Bing entered the search engine market so late, its market share is very small. Bing has
issues with censorship and mature content, along with trademark issues. Bing continues to grow and eat
into Google’s massive majority share. Microsoft reported that Bing searchers were bigger spenders,
meaning advertising on Bing could result in a better return on advertising investment. Microsoft was keen
to point out their ad network can reach 167 million unique web searchers in the U.S. alone, which is 29% of
the search market (Finney, 2015).
Bing has two primary strategies. Bing launched its apps for Android and IOS in 2013, which are set
to deliver smarter, faster results (Hernandez, 2013). Bing has supported natural language, question-based
searches for more than a year. The feature could potentially help streamline the process of unearthing
information on a given subject, saving time and no small amount of frustration. Instead of reformulating
one's search at every step, users can build upon their past interactions to arrive at meaningful answers--just
like a conversation with a live person (Hernandez, 2014).
9
IV. Target Market
Due to Google Search’s extensive library of data, Google Search targets Internet users of all ages,
demographics, and interests. While independent studies have revealed that Google Search is most popular
among younger, tech savvy, white-collar, and college-educated Internet users, Google Search has the
ability to provide the search engine service to many different population groups. Statista reports that in
2013, the number of search engine users was 204 million; Google Search captured an average of 90% of
the market. The number of search engine users is expected to grow to 223 million in the next two years. If
Google Search continues to capture 90% of the market, 200.7 million search engine users will look to
Google Search for information. Shockingly, Google has only captured 67% of the U.S. market. Verizon
Wireless does not use Google Search as the default search engine on their mobile devices.
Google Search’s future as the leading search engine depends on its ability to continue offering the
search engine free of charge to users. According to MarketLine, 96% of Google Inc.’s revenues come from
AdWords and AdSense. Google Search relies on revenues from their advertising services to compete for
market share.
Google Wireless is expected to provide more users with Internet access for mobile devices.
Furthermore, recent FCC developments have ruled that Internet will not be more affordable as it will be
regulated as a public utility. G-Team expects these developments to increase the number of users choosing
Google Search, thus increasing market segment.
One of Google search’s leading application, and Google’s revenue source is advertisement. Google
offers advertising services such as AdWords, AdSense, Google Display, Google Mobile and Google Local.
AdWords’ direct sales channels concentrate on global companies with huge advertising budgets, while
direct sales teams of AdSense focus on prominent Internet companies. The company's display advertising
focuses on advertisers and publishers across geographies (Google Inc., 2015).
Google AdSense delivers AdWords advertisements to websites of the Google Network. The
AdSense for Content uses automated technology for analyzing the meaning of the content on the web page
and provide related ads.
10
Google search offers AdWords, an auction-based advertising program that allows advertisers to
create suitable text-based advertisements. AdWords is Google's online advertising platform designed to
help businesses use the Web to find new customers by delivering relevant ads when users search for
specific products and services. Using the cost-per-click (CPC) model, businesses can select and bid on
keywords related to what they are selling, and pay only when an interested user clicks on their ad. Google
ranks ads based on the price and how relevant the ad is to the searcher, taking into account how many
people have clicked on the ad in the past (Gopwani, 2006). According to a Nielsen survey, 74% of people
said they use search engines to find local business. Yet, only 3% of local marketing budgets are spent
online. (Business & Finance week, 2008) AdWords generated $3.4 billion for Google, or 55% of its
revenue in 2005.
Google AdWords targets both end-user (searchers) and business provider (advertisers). Google
AdWords targets searchers who are interested in a search tool, which classifies the Internet sites according
to content relevance. It targets advertisers who are interested in announcing products and services on the
Internet to specific traffic. Their strength is in differentiation.
For value creation, Google distinguished natural search results from those based strictly on
advertisements. Google developed the best existing search tool, enabled through technologically advanced
algorithms, focusing on assisting Internet users. Google's core competency is based on the technology used
in the search service, which is capable of building and organizing a database that makes it possible for the
Internet user to find practically any piece of information he or she may be looking for (Joel, Eduardo
Jardel, & Figueira, 2009).
The other innovative application is Google Shopping. Google Shopping, formerly Google Product
Search, Google Products and Froogle, is a Google service invented by Craig Nevill-Manning allowing
users to search for products on shopping websites and compare prices between different vendors.
Originally, the service-listed prices submitted by merchants, and were monetized through AdWords
advertising like other Google services. However, in May 2012, Google announced that the service (which
11
was also immediately renamed Google Shopping) would shift in late 2012 to a paid model where
merchants would have to pay the company in order to list their products on the platform (Weiss, 2013).
Google Shopping has three primary features on its homepage: “Follow us on Google+”, “Google
Express”, and “Shortlists on Google Shopping.” “Follow us on Google+” allows users to see the latest
information from Google Shopping. Users can get the latest products or discount information on Google+.
“Google Express” provides a unique service allowing the user to shop at local stores online and receive the
goods the same day. This fantastic feature gives people an opportunity to explore everything they need
online. Launched in 2013, “Shortlists on Google Shopping” is relative new feature that allows users to keep
track of products they are monitoring. Also, users can compare products at a glance and invite friends or
family to share ideas, opinions and expertise (Weiss, 2013).
Google Shopping gives users the opportunity to search directly on Google. It aims to feature more
than 1 billion products from more than 100,000 sellers. Google has greatly benefited from this venture as
each week an increasing number of people are doing their searches and shopping through Google Shopping
(Weiss, 2013).
12
V. Identification and Analysis of Key Issues
In order to identify the current and potential critical business issues for Google, G-team has examined
Google search’s current value creation process and its strategies in product, pricing, distribution, and
promotion.
According to Eric Schmidt (2014), “Google’s strength is the lack of a concise product
strategy. Because there is no set product strategy, Google is free to adapt the current strategy as external
forces impact the organization.” According to Schmidt (2004), when a product is demonstrably better
(usually because it is based on strong technical insights) and the company is competing in a new, rapidly
growing market, quick growth can be achieved without opening up the platform. This was the case with
Google’s Search and ads engines in Google’s early days, but it is a fairly rare circumstance (Schmidt &
Rosenberg, 2014). Opening up Google’s search and ads algorithms would severely compromise quality.
The search environment is best served, Eric believes, by keeping Google’s algorithms a secret.
Because Google Search is free to the public, there is no pricing strategy for Google Search. However,
Google’s advertisement business, AdWords does have pricing strategy for advertisers. G-team believes that
Google AdWords is applying participative pricing strategy. Participative pricing mechanisms, such as
auctions and name your own price (NYOP), can be considered innovative, in the sense of being
unconventional, because they involve consumers in the price-setting process (Kim, Natter, & Spann, 2009).
Google AdWords is an auction based online advertisement platform (Danuloff, 2011). Using the cost-per-
click (CPC) model, businesses can select and bid on keywords related to what they are selling, and pay
only when an interested user clicks on the ad (Business & Finance week, 2008). Google ranks ads based on
the price and how relevant the ad is to the searcher, taking into account how many people have clicked on
the ad in the past (Gopwani, 2006).
In assessing Google search’s distribution strategy, G-team believes Google Search is applying the
Dual-Role Strategy. Google Search provides real time information to customers (users) while Google
AdWords serves as an intermediary bridging customers (users) and business providers (advertisers).
13
Google search’s dual-role distribution strategy not only enables Google to better serve its customers
(users), but also provide support to business providers (advertisers).
Google search’s promotion strategy has led G-team to believe Google Search is applying the Brand
Community Strategy. Google penetrates into people’s daily life. According to Bing’s chief marketing
officer, Mike Nichols, “Bing’s mission is to show people it’s time to break the ‘Google habit’” (Weiss,
2012). Google’s user communities are tightly surrounded by Google search. Its brand community strategy
is effectively increasing Google’s brand awareness and brand equity.
By carefully examining the current value creation process, G-team identified five current and
potential critical business issues for Google search. Based on their implications, G-team has ranked them as
follow due to importance: Relevancy, Federal Trade Commission, Copyright, Revenue Dependence, and
“Don’t be Evil.”
The most significant issue for Google search is their relevancy issue. According to Hariri (2011), web
users want to find the most relevant information with little effort and in the shortest time. Google Search
uses an advanced patented algorithm named PageRank to determine the relevance of a webpage and its
order on the results list. PageRank considers more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Because
relevance is determined by the user, it is a subjective concept that varies from one user to user (Hariri,
2011). The search results are not the only queries affected by relevancy issues. If the ads are not relevant to
the consumers’ queries, consumers will not click them, resulting in a waste of advertisers' marketing funds,
and discontinued search advertising. In essence, irrelevant advertising causes the collapse of Google’s
business model. Bing and Yahoo! are improving their degree of relevance. As a result, based on the
analysis, G-team decided to vote relevance as Google Search’s most critical issue.
The second critical business issue that has developed for Google Inc. is the stringent watch of the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In the past several years, the FTC’s regulations imposed on Google have
cost Google Inc. millions. In 2012, the FTC levied a hefty fine of $22.5 million on Google Inc. for
misrepresenting privacy assurances. In 2014, Google Inc. was expected to refund consumers at least $19
Million for unauthorized purchases on Google Play made by children on mobile devices. The watchful
14
eye of the FTC has cost Google money and impacted business operations. Due to the continuous work of
the FTC to watch Google Inc., this has developed into an ongoing business issue.
According to the Library of Congress (2011) Google has faced various copyright infringement
lawsuits. The primary reason these lawsuits are surfacing is due to Google’s mass project to digitize
published books. Authors and publishers are unhappy with the digitization project due to the financial
losses they may incur. The Library of Congress passed a law that requires Google remove and enable
access to allegedly infringing materials once a request has been submitted. Requests usually originate from
copyright owners or reporting organizations that represent copyright owners that submit requests asking
Google to remove material they believe infringes copyrights or provides links to material that infringes
copyrights. In a certain week, Google can receive up to 12,000,000 removal requests. In order to protect
the rights of the users and the freedom of speech, Google spends a generous amount of time and resources
reviewing, verifying, and implementing the requests, as necessary (Google Transparency Report, 2015).
Google’s revenue dependence on advertising may affect its business and result of operations. During
2014, the company generated 95% of the total revenue from Advertising. The revenue from advertising is
vulnerable to factors such as the company’s ability to win new contracts, prevailing economic conditions,
and market trends, among others. Google’s business and result of operations may be affected if it loses any
of key advertising contracts (Google Inc., 2014).
Finally, the “Don’t Be Evil” issue. Google Inc. is unable to control how the search results are
used. Google’s business success “depends heavily on avoiding punitive, manipulative or discriminatory
use of its information resources.” The company’s motto, “don’t be evil” can only be ensured within the
internal part of company. Due to the vast amount of information available on Google, the engine is unable
to keep certain websites or other questionable sources from appearing and while Google Search is not held
responsible for the misuse of information by end users, these issues explicitly go against Google’s motto
and have an ethical impact on Google (Google Company, 2015).
15
VI. Strategic Alternatives
Based on research and analysis, it is evident that Google’s biggest issue is the relevancy of results. To
address the issue, G-team has three strategic alternatives: customer relationship management, confrontation,
and product-line stretching. The revenue forecasts provided in each section below reflect the impact of
each strategy after to following factors have already been applied to each forecast: the increase in internet
users to 3.4 billion by 2017.
1) Alternative #1: Customer Relationship Management
Google will implement Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to address the relevancy issue.
To provide relevant results, Google must consider the user’s perspective. CRM manages customer’s
individual information and touch points (occasions in which the customer experiences communication from
Google), to provide real-time customer service and maximize loyalty. CRM is important because a major
driver of company profitability comes from the aggregate value of the company’s customer base.
Based on customer preferences, companies customize marketing offerings, services, programs,
messages, and media. Google Search would use the customer’s browsing history, traffic, and Google Plus
activity, and account information to create a customized user profile; resulting in more relevant
results. According to the Annual American Customer Satisfaction Index, Google outperforms Bing and
Yahoo! (ACSI, 2014). By using CRM to improve relevancy, Google Search would continue to ensure
Google Search users are the most satisfied within the industry.
As Kotler & Keller (2011) warns, the downside of CRM is that “building and maintaining a customer
database requires a large, well-placed investment in computer hardware, database software, analytical
programs, communication links, and skilled staff. It’s difficult to collect the right data, especially to capture
all the occasions of company interaction with individual customers.” CRM’s success depends on the
involvement of Google Search and users. Even if Google wants to build a relationship with the user, the
user may choose not reciprocate. Some users may resent Google collecting personal information. European
countries do not look favorably on database marketing and are protective of consumers’ private information
(Kotler & Keller, 2011).
16
In the short-term, Google’s customer retention rate would increase due to high satisfaction and
improved degree of relevance due to CRM. It is important to note that the implementation of CRM will
immediately increase expenditures. In the long run, Google expects CRM to help the company maintain its
industry leader position. By applying CRM Strategy, users will continue the “Google habit” which will
result in customer loyalty and brand equity.
Google Search does not expect revenues to change during the first year CRM is adopted because the
strategy will include research, development, small-scale development, and pilot testing. During the second
year, revenues will increase by half of Google’s expected customer satisfaction rate impact of 12% to an
annual revenue of $78,770 million. The second year’s revenue forecast is expected to be conservative due
to the lag between the implementation and the impact. The third year, Google’s expects revenues due to
CRM will increase to $85,720 million.
2) Alternative #2: Confrontation
Bing’s high degree of relevance has imposed a significant threat to Google Search. To address this
issue, G-team will implement the confrontation strategy, an appropriate strategy for market leaders.
According to Weiss (2012), "Bing It On Challenge," a Bing marketing outreach, is aimed at growing Bing's
market share. According to Mike Nichols, testing within Bing "showed that Bing's Web search results were
better than Google's…quality"(Weiss, 2012). According to professor Roger Lall, “confrontation strategy
involves responding to a competitor's action(s) based on the firm's commitment in a given product or
market area. If a firm has a high commitment, in the form of investments, core competencies, market share,
and if it is attacked by a competitor, it will respond aggressively by deploying a large number of resources
to respond to the competitor, to protect its market share.” In confronting Bing’s attack, Google Search will
match Bing’s marketing mix.
The confrontation strategy will allow Google to fight for Bing’s market share. By deploying vast
resources, Google Search will achieve a higher degree of relevance, which will prevent users from
searching through Bing. Google Search could use the confrontation strategy to illustrate their commitment
to customer satisfaction and improvement of relevancy, which could results in additional market share.
17
According to Kotler & Keller (2011), “the cost of gaining further market share might exceed the
value if holdout customers dislike the company, are loyal to competitors, have unique needs, or prefer
dealing with smaller firms.” Applying the confrontation strategy will require Google Search to deploy
significant resources. Google Search will need to consider if the benefit outweighs the cost. Kotler &
Keller (2011) recall that, “frustrated competitors are likely to cry ‘monopoly’ and seek legal action if a
dominant firm makes further inroads.” Kotler’s & Keller’s warning paired with the FTC’s strong will to
regulate Google could affect Google Search.
Although acquiring Bing’s customers will increase Google Search’s market share, that does not
always translate to higher profits due to costs of obtaining and maintaining the market share. On the other
hand, higher traffic results in increased advertisers who regenerate more revenue for Google Search. The
other long-term impact could be low return on investment. As previously stated, because relevancy is
subjective to the user, Google may not always provide the most relevant results. Consequently, the benefit
from Google Search’s high commitment to relevance might not be able to offset the huge cost.
The first year’s revenue forecast due to the implementation of the confrontation strategy is expected
to be conservative and generate a 5% increase, approximately half of Bing’s current increase in market
share, in revenue because loyal Bing users will not switch to Google Search immediatly. The first year’s
revenue forecasts will be $71,570 million. The second year expects to see the full effect of the
confrontation strategy capture Bing’s increasing market share of 11%, for total revenue forecast of $82,480
million. The third year revenue is expected to capture the market at the constant rate of 11% for total
revenue forecast of $90,720 million.
3) Alternative #3: Product-Line Stretching Strategy
G-team will apply the product-line stretching strategy to address Google Search’s relevance issue. As
the major revenue-generating engine, Google AdWords regenerated 95% of Google’s revenue last year.
According to Kotler & Armstrong (2011), product-line stretching occurs when a company lengthens
its product-line beyond its current range. The company can stretch its line downward, upward, or both ways.
Google AdWords currently serves as an intermediary between users and advertisers. In order to reach wider
18
advertiser market, Google AdWords will provide stretching products to different segments of the
advertising market. By applying the product-line stretching strategy, Google will differentiate its services
for Fortune 500, big corporations, and local start-ups. This will address the relevance issue for the users.
For example, if the user were interested in homemade shoes, instead of showing Nike (Fortune 500
segments) advertisements, a company from the local start-up would be more relevant. On the other hand,
when a user searches luxury handbags in Google Search, instead of presenting a local start-up’s
advertisement, Google AdWords could provide more relevant results like handbags from Louis Vuitton.
The advantage in product-line stretching strategy is created by better serving the advertisers and users
at different levels and at different price levels. Additionally, product-line stretching will allow AdWords
co-create value with advertisers. An important result of implementing the strategy is the ability for Google
to diversify the sources of revenue to lower the risk posed by an overdependence on a single source of
revenue. Lastly, from the perspective of advertiser, by differentiating AdWords, advertisement segment
could reach out to their target market more effectively.
The product-line stretching strategy requires a vast investment of resources to develop, implement,
and maintain a separate interface for each segment of the product line. After designing the new interface,
further maintaining it also requires financial and human capital investment. A potential issue could arise
with gaps between categories that may not cover the segments the advertisers whishes to pursue.
The large cost to implement product-line stretching strategy will have an immediate effect on the
balance sheet. If advertisers have little interest, AdWords might not have an acceptable margin and could
prevent AdWords from breaking even. Shortly after implementing the strategy, AdWords expects an
increase in the number of users and advertisers. Due to stretching, local businesses have more opportunities
to promote their business with less financial commitment while Fortune 500 companies could reach out
more effectively to their target group. This win-win-win situation will help users, advertisers, and AdWords.
In the long run, Google AdWords could be required to strategically withdraw if it is determined that the
benefit of a differentiated service does not outweigh the cost. In the long run, AdWords expects a positive
return on investment. The return is not only in the form of financial, such as high revenue, high margin, and
19
high market share, but also it could be in the form of high customer satisfaction and customer loyalty,
which could allow AdWords to increase its brand equity and brand value in the future.
The product-line stretching strategy revenue results will be impacted by the growth in marketing
spending on online platforms. According to the CMO Council, 2015, spending is expected to increase at an
annual rate of approximately 15% with Google capturing 35% of those expenditures. The first year will see
a conservative increase of 5% due to the time it takes to gather new advertisers. First year’s forecast
revenues are expected to be $69,360 million. The second year’s forecast is expected to generate revenues
of $78,200. Finally, the third year, Google expects revenues to increase to $82,300 million.
20
VII. Formulation of Strategy & Recommendation of Tactics
The biggest issue for Google Search is the lack of relevancy in the results provided to the end
users. The search engine users have identified “relevancy” to be the number one factor in deciding what
search engine to use. Because Bing is able to produce more accurate results, search engine users prefer
Bing to Google at a 2:1 ratio. Google Search is directly threatened by Bing’s mission advertised by Bing’s
Chief Marketing Officer, Mike Nichols; “Bing has reached a quality level that will make it easy to switch”
(Weiss, 2012). Due to the direct threat exhibited by Bing and other emerging search engines, Google
Search will focus on the confrontation strategy.
Google Search will create value to bring benefits to the customer by co-creating with the customers to
provide a service they feel is reflective of their number one criteria; relevancy. Google Search’s major
Research and Development project will focus to address the concern of relevancy by focusing on an
innovative algorithm and natural language processing initiatives. To continue promoting Google Search
and increasing traffic, Google will make Google Search a sticky site by continuing to use Google Doodles.
If the search results are not relevant to the customers’ search criteria, the customer will not click on the
accompanying advertisements. Low click numbers are a waste of the advertisers’ resources. Few clicks
on advertising means AdWords generate little profit. Resolving the relevancy issue results in a win-win-
win situation for users, advertisers, and Google Inc. (Rosso, McClelland & Jansen, 2009). Google Search
will continue to create a value for the end user and advertiser through its dual-role distribution strategy by
becoming the manufacturer of search results and the intermediary delivering the advertisers’ messages.
The first tactic that Google Search will use to confront competitors is the adoption of a platform that
will recognize natural language. Due to the plethora of resources available on the Internet, “natural
language processing will help improve the accuracy of search engine results.” The impact of the NLP
strategy will be evaluated using a balance scorecard metric. The balance scorecard will allow G-team to
define the vision, strategy, and the tool used to measure the impact of implementing NLP. In developing a
confrontation strategy, Google learned that as the number of online resources continues to grow, many
resources are written in different granularities ranging from simple language to elaborate syntactic
21
language. The vision of the natural language processing initiative is to develop a platform that will allow
users to recognize language generally only used to address another human. NLP has been developed as a
strategy to enable Google Search to recognize everyday language. The NLP software will allow natural
language to generate results at all levels of complexity (Natural Language Processing, 2015). By
implementing a tactic that results in more accurate results, Google Search will be able to confront Bing on
the only factor that can compete with Google Search – relevancy. The metric used to evaluate the success
of the NLP tactic will be a preference study between Bing and Google Search users. As mentioned
previously, currently Bing is preferred 2:1 in comparison to Google Search. The NLP tactic will be a
success if search engine users shift their preference towards Google Search.
As pioneers of the Knowledge Graph (KG), Google Search will continue to innovate this function
and use it as a tactic to execute the confrontation strategy it plans to pursue. The vision of the Knowledge
Graph tactic is to provide “key breakthroughs behind the future of search by discovering answers to
questions you never thought to ask” (Knowledge, 2015). It is important to highlight that while the KG
provides information not directly searched for; the data displayed is driven by relevancy to the original
search. The Knowledge Graph works to stimulate users by linking their searches with related topics or
similar searches. Google Search has chosen this tactic to implement the confrontation strategy because the
Knowledge Graph differentiates Google. Although other search engine providers have adopted the
Knowledge Graph, Google continues to be the innovator with the display arrangement. Google plans to
specifically confront Wikipedia, a site that has shockingly proven more reliable than previously believed,
by providing the user with ease of use and an esthetic representation of data that is always credible. The
display used by the Knowledge Graph platform allows the user to get information quickly without having
to vet search results or explore separate sites. Internally, Google will evaluate the success of the
Knowledge Graph by using backward-looking metrics to see the increase in customer satisfaction and
relevancy ratings as well as increased traffic.
By providing different platforms of advertising, Google plans to execute the product-line stretching
tactic to confront other industry players by providing more relevant search results and advertisements. The
22
vision of the product-line stretching tactic is to provide every search engine user with specific ads they are
almost guaranteed to click. By providing different levels of advertising, from local start-ups, to big
corporations, to Fortune 500 companies, Google will be able to provide the right advertisement type for the
right search engine user. The metric that will be used to evaluate the success of the product-line stretching
tactic is the forward-looking metric. By identifying the nature of individuals’ searches, Google will be able
to use that information as a leading indicator before reacting and providing the appropriate advertisement
results.
By implementing the Natural Language Processing tactic, Google faces the risk of providing lower
quality. A glitch in the algorithm could lead NLP to favor more informal search results instead of formal
results. For example, perhaps more blogs will turn up instead of scholarly articles. Due to the investment
needed to implement the above tactics, Google runs a risk of having a negative return on investment. The
way the Knowledge Graph is currently displayed on the Google Search page does not allow for
advertisements to be displayed by AdWords. The inability to display advertisements will lead to decreased
revenue and perhaps a decrease in demand for AdWords. Due to the high cost to develop and implement
the product-line stretching tactic allowing different marketers to reach specific audiences, it is possible the
revenues gathered from small start-ups will not be significant enough to break-even. As it was illustrated
in the Coca-Cola case, a company can run a high risk that a big change in its product or service will not be
well accepted by the target market despite overwhelmingly data suggesting otherwise.
23
Reference:
1. (2014) International Literacy Date for 2014. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.uis.unesco.org/literacy/Pages/literacy-data-release-2014.aspx.
2. (2014) The Google Knowlegedge Graph: Information Gatekeeper or a force to be reckoned with?
(2014). Strategic Direction , 30 (4), 15-17.
3. AdWords (2015, March). Auction Insights to Compare Performance. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2579754?hl=en.
4. Agrahri, A., Manickam, D., & Riedl, J. (2008). Can people collaborate to improve the relevance
of serach results? ACM Press , 283-286.
5. Bar-Ilan, J., Keenoy, K., Yaari, E., & Levene, M. (2007). User rankings of search engine results. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology , 58 (9), 1254-1266.
6. Bloomberg (2015, Feburary). Apple Wants to Start Producing Cars as Early as 2020. Retrieved
from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-19/apple-said-to-be-targeting-car-production-as-soon-as-2020.
7. Boyette, C. (2013). Smarter, Richer People Use Google. Retrieved from
http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/20/technology/enterprise/google-states/.
8. CMO Council. (2015). Marketing Spend. Retrieved from http://www.cmocouncil.org/facts-stats-categories.php?view=all&category=marketing-spend.
9. Danuloff, C. (2011). Google's Guesswork. Target Marketing , 34 (11), 24-25. Retrived
from:http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/903804714?accountid=10477.
10. Federal Trade Commision. (n.d.). About the Federal Trade Commision. Retrieved from
http://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc.
11. Federal Trade Commision. (2013). Google Agrees to Change its Business Practices to Resolve FTC Competition Concerns in the Markets in Devices Like Smart Phones, Games, and Tablets, and in Online Search. . Retrieved from http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2013/01/google-agrees-change-its-business-practices-resolve-ftc.
12. Federal Trade Commision. (2014). Google, Inc. . Retrieved from
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/122-3237/google-inc.
13. Federal Trade Commission. (2014). Google to Refund Consumers at Least $19 Million to Settle FTC Compaint It Unlawfully Billed Parents for Children's Unautorized In-App Charges. Retrieved from http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2014/09/google-refund-consumers-least-19-million-settle-ftc-complaint-it.
24
14. Federal Trade Commission. (2012). Google Will Pay $22.5 Million to Settle FTC Charges it Misrepresented Privacy Assurances to Users of Apple's Safari Internet Browser. . Retrieved from http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/08/google-will-pay-225-million-settle-ftc-charges-it-misrepresented.
15. Finney, J. (2015). Bing did well in 2014, gained market share and many improvements. .
Retrieved from WinBeta: http://www.winbeta.org/news/bing-did-well-2014-gained-marketshare-and-many-improvements
16. Gareth, J. (2008). Paid Search Faces Up to Social Media. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/abicomplete/docview/231075983/5BDEE1EABDFF43EAPQ/1?accountid=10477.
17. Gartner. (2009). What Does Google Know? Retrieved from:
http://www.gartner.com/document/918012?ref=QuickSearch&sthkw=%22what%20does%20google%20know%22&refval=147868354&qid=538888f2ded36310dd60f4e86f82f0a5.
18. GlobalData. (2014). SWOT Analysis, Google Inc. Retrieved from:
http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/.
19. Goldman, D. (2015). Google Is Becoming A Wireless Carrier. . Retrieved from CNN Money: http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/23/technology/mobile/google-wireless/.
20. Goldman, D. (2012). Google Kills 250,000 search links a week. . Retrieved from CNN Money :
http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/24/technology/google-search-copyright/index.htm
21. GOOGL. (2015). Retrieved from Google Finance : https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AGOOGL&ei=0zD6VKm0Bo62qAHl-oGIBA
22. Google Inside Search. (2015). The Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/search/knowledge.html.
23. Google Transparency Report . (2015). Requests to remove content due to copyright. . Retrieved from https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/. .
24. Gorman, P. (2014). Bing Driving High-Quality Traffic. Promotional Marketing , 2, Retrieved
from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=51378866-4ac1-439b-b262-cd3c59751123%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4207&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=99861253.
25. Hariri, N. (2011). Relevance ranking on Google. Online Information Review , 35 (4), 598-610.
Retreived from: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/abicomplete/docview/888255354/74F9A009132B4F80PQ/1?accountid=10477.
26. Hernandez, P. (2013). Bing Search Gets Retooled for Windows Phone 8 . EWEEK , 3, Retrieved
from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=51378866-4ac1-439b-b262-cd3c59751123%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4207&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=89867409.
25
27. Hernandez, P. (2014). Microsoft's Bing Search Wants to Strike Up a Conversation. EWEEK , 5,
Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=51378866-4ac1-439b-b262-cd3c59751123%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4207&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=97535196 .
28. Hoover's Company Record - In - Depth Record. (2015). Yahoo! Inc. . Retrieved from:
http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=4G6T-XJK0-TWH4-6202&csi=270944,270077,11059,8411&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=tr.
29. House of Representatives. (2000). Love Bug Virus: Protecting Lovesick Computers From
Malicious Attack. . Retrieved from http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/science/hsy131170.000/hsy131170_1.HTM.
30. ICD Research . (2014). Google Inc.: Technology and communication - company profile, SWOT &
Financial report. . London: Progressive Digital Media Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1643537009?accountid=10477.
31. Jaconi, M. (2014). The "On-Demand Economy" is Revolutionizing Consumer Behavior. .
Retrieved from Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/the-on-demand-economy-2014-7.
32. Joel, Y., Eduardo Jardel, V., & Figueira, M. (2009). Business model and core competence refinement: Google's case study. 6 (3), Retrieved from http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/883071657?accountid=10477.
33. Ju-young, K., Martin, N., & Martin, S. (2009). Pay What You Want: A New Participative Pricing
Mechanism. Journal of Marketing. Retrieved from: http://www.ecm.bwl.uni-muenchen.de/publikationen/pdf/pwyw_jm.pdf , 73, 44-58.
34. Knutson, R., & Barr, A. (2015). Google to sell wireless service in deals with sprint, T-mobil;
move likely to push rivals to cut prices, improve speeds. . Wall Street Journal , Retrieved from http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1647261321?accountid=10477.
35. Library of Congress . (2011). Legal Issues in Mass Digitization. . Retrieved from
http://copyright.gov/docs/massdigitization/
36. Magnus, R., Ray, V., & Jonah, K. (2014). How Performance Affects User Experience and Your Bottom Line, and What to Do About It? Retrieved from: http://www.gartner.com/document/2840618?ref=QuickSearch&sthkw=How%20Performance%20Affects%20User%20Experience%20and%20Your%20Bottom%20Line%2C%20and%20What%20to%20Do%20About%20It&refval=148288564&qid=86138296502975a91cb5b18dd9f6fc30.
26
37. Market Line. (2015). Google Inc. . Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2a9d9e01-9a23-4a59-9d03-77b1ca923e89%40sessionmgr4002&vid=1&hid=4114.
38. Mbaskool.com. (2015). Bing's SWOT analysis . Retrieved from
http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/media-and-entertainment/1193-bing.html
39. McCarthy, N. (2014). Giant Chart: Global Internet Usage by the Numbers. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2014/08/27/giant-chart-global-internet-usage-by-the-numbers/.
40. McKinsey & Company . (2014). Offline and Falling Behind: Barrier to Internet Adoption. .
Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/high_tech/latest_thinking.
41. National Public Radio. (2015). FCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules for "Open Internet". Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/26/389259382/net-neutrality-up-for-vote-today-by-fcc-board.
42. Natrual Language Processing. (2015). Microsoft Reserach: Natural Language Processing. .
Retrieved from http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/global/asia-pacific/programs/nlp.aspx.
43. New Digital Marketing Research . (n.d.). Yahoo/Bing has largest market share increase against
Google in five years. . PR Newswire , Retrived from: http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1566758562?accountid=10477.
44. Patil, S., Alpert, S., Karat, J., & Wolf, C. (2005). That's what I was looking for: comparing user-
rated relevance with serach engine rankings. Springer , 3855, 117-129.
45. Rosso, M., McClelland, M., Jansen, B., & Fleming, S. (2009). Using Google AdWords in the MBA MIS course. Journal of Information Systems Education. , 20 (1), 41-49 Retrieved from http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/200167083?accountid=10477.
46. Schmidt, E., & Rosenberg, J. (2014). How Google Works . Grand Central Publishing .
47. SEO. (2011). History of Bing Search Engine. Retrieved from
http://seosemandsocialnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/04/history-of-bing-search-engine.html
48. Statista. (2014). Global Market Share of Serch Engines 200-2014. Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/statistics/216573/worldwide-market-share-of-search-engines/.
49. Ten Things We Know To Be True . (2015). Retrieved from Google Company:
http://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/
50. The Race is on! Yahoo and Bing fight to gain search share from Google. . (2015). Business wire , Retrieved from http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1647377477?accountid=10477.
27
51. United States Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K Google Inc. (2014). [Motion Picture].
52. United States: Yahoo CEO says firefox deal will boost search market share. (2014). Asia News
Monitor , Retrieved from http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1626713900?accountid=10477.
53. Weiss, T. R. (2013). Google Shopping gets more local . EWEEK , 5 (5), Retrieved from:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=51378866-4ac1-439b-b262-cd3c59751123%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4207&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=91634158.
54. Weiss, T. R. (2012). Microsoft Bing to Google: Our Search is better than your search. . EWEEK ,
3, Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=51378866-4ac1-439b-b262-cd3c59751123%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4207&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=bth&AN=91662423.
55. World Bank . (2014). Poverty Overview . Retrieved from
http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview.
56. Wugang, & Tse. (2011). Competition in search engine market . Retrived from: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/abicomplete/docview/1241201969/DFCF046360B34D7APQ/1?accountid=10477. .
57. Yodle, inc.: Yodle forms strategic alliance with Google to bring AdWords to small businesses. .
(2008). Business & Finance Week. , 53, Retrived from: http://ezproxy.depaul.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/198105120?accountid=10477.