Google ahead of Microsoft only in search? More facts needed!

Yesterday, Techcruch reported that Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer told reporters in Tokyo that Google wasn’t ahead of Microsoft in any way online except with search. Duncan Riley gave a number of online services in which Google is a dominant force.

Here in Malawi and in most African countries, most people use the Internet for email and search. Google is well known for their search engine. Even the email aspect is fast being taken up by gmail.Of course yahoo mail is dominant. But gmail is becoming more widespread. So from an African perspective, Google is well ahead of Microsoft.

In order to come up with a complete and an unbiased picture, there is a need for some neutral people to evaluate the online services offered by these giants. It may also be necessary to establish the contribution of search to overall online activity world wide?From my online experince, search is fast becoming embedded in many online services.

Google's traffic redirected to Baidu in China

For the past few months, I have been following the battle for supremacy in the Chinese market between Google and local rivals Baidu with great interest. For once, I was very excited because a local company is giving Google a good run for their $$$. I even put up a good free review on Baidu a few weeks ago.I have always thought that the playing field in the Chinese market is level, as expected. But the news that I got from Techcrunch and Chris' site today proves otherwise. A look at the image below (which I took from Chis' site) tells you something:



It looks like Google's traffic is being hijacked by Baidu and if they have been doing it all this time, then no wonder Google is failing to compete with them. I expect Baidu and China Netcom to issue a statement on such damaging ISP level redirects. Was it a software configuration problem? If it was, why does it redirect traffic to a competitor. So many questions are being asked. But as of now, my liking for Baidu has reached the lowest point. Fair competition against the giants is necessary! My final question is this. With this revelation, can Google sue Baidu? Just wondering!