November 21, 2008 by Matt Thomas
Earlier in the year the U.S Department of Justice blocked an advertising deal between Google and Yahoo on the grounds that it would be anti-competitive and increase Google’s already tight grip on the search market. This happened around the time the U.S people elected their first black president so it didn’t quite get the play it deserved in the media. However, it was a hugely significant story because it revealed the U.S government’s attitude to Google and their dominance. This is going to become more and more important over the coming years.
Google currently enjoy approximately 81% of the market share, almost eight times Yahoo’s 11%, the rest of the players, if you can call them that, divide up the single digits. According to the Los Angeles Times there is ‘growing concern’ amongst regulators about Google’s dominance of the search market though what they can or will do about it remains open for debate.
Thus far, it has been hoped by many that Yahoo could remedy the situation by somehow finding a way to compete properly with the industry giant. Unfortunately, Yahoo appears to be disintegrating rapidly, with key personnel clambering over each other to quit and the share price in free-fall. The buyout from Microsoft, on which many hopes were pinned, and not just at Yahoo, appears for the time being to be off the table too. It would appear that, if there is a solution to Google’s dominance, it’s not going to happen organically.
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