Jordan Rohan, Stifel Nicolaus & Company analyst recently said: “The key opportunity for Google in 2011 is to prove that the transition to mobile, social and local is a graceful one. Google cannot be perceived to be run over by Amazon.com, Apple, or Facebook.” Walter Price of RCM Capital Management has also chipped in his two cents by proclaiming: “Facebook’s the long-term competitor, not Bing.”
Telling, as RCM Capital have shares in both Google and Microsoft. If RCM and other investors see Facebook as its largest rival and not other search engines, then you can bet your life that Google will do everything in their power to offer something of a similar service to secure investor confidence long into the future.
So has website optimization and search marketing peaked? Not at all. Spending from consumers in search is still very healthy – especially in the US, the largest market – and it’s expected that Google will announce net revenue surpassing $6 billion for the final quarter of 2010.
But the concern lies with the leaps and bounds Facebook is making in a social and local sense, and the possibility that traffic and advertising revenue could find a happier home there when it comes to people finding what they need. Google is trying – their attempted acquisition of Groupon shows that they recognise the need to offer something more local and socially inclusive when it comes to their services.
It isn’t just how Google approaches 2011 and regional that will determine how the search landscape changes. All the power lies with the user, and which service they prefer when they need to find something. Will search become more social, or will Google find a solution and offer THE comprehensive regional search service that simply can’t be beaten from a usability standpoint?
Whatever happens, Walter Price has some chilling words that probably resonate the feelings of investors across the globe. “Google needs to step up in social or it runs the same risk that Microsoft does of having the [stock’s price-earnings] multiple degrade.”
