January 2nd, 2004

(Continuation of my 2004 predictions on page one).

It is estimated that over 700 to 800 of such employees are current shareholders, in effect forcing Google to become public, whether it likes the idea or not. At least by going public, it will receive many billions of new money that it will be able to use in its massive, continuing research and development programs at the Googleplex. Many are expecting the 5-year old company to make an IPO sometime in late March or early April.

The Microsoft wildcard
As for Microsoft, there won't be any MSN search engine developed in 2004. Microsoft is still in the early stages in the development of its search engine, which many think will simply be integrated into Longhorn, the new version of Windows expected to hit the streets sometime in the first half of 2006. Microsoft said it's new search engine will search for information on your hard drive, then post its results on your screen. However, for the time being, it is still uncertain how Microsoft will have that new search engine find information on the Web, if it cannot find it on your hard drive.

The Yahoo Factor
Whatever happens in the Google stables, one major player that cannot be neglected is Yahoo. Yesterday in fact, the CEO of a very large Canadian company and client of mine asked me what I think of Yahoo and what it might do to fight back the ever-powerful Googlemania? I strongly believe that the Sunnyvale California company should be considered as the "sleeping giant", but not for long. After having bought and 'digested' Overture and All The Web in 2003, Yahoo is the number One search directory in the world and the number Two search engine (although I prefer to call it a search directory) on the Web. Yahoo is also the current owner of AltaVista. In 2004, there is no question that Pay-per-Click (PPC) will be an extremely popular derivative of search, and one that will grow well into 2005 and 2006. Overture and Google, through its AdWords program currently have the two best PPC search properties.

Article written by Serge Thibodeau,
President & CEO,
Rank for $ales
Copyright (c) Serge Thibodeau 2003

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