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Google strikes back

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Microsoft has had a long history of trying to do everything and being able to throw enough money at it to get its way.  

Microsoft single-handedly took over the personal computing market many years ago with a DOS system to compete with Apple’s Macintosh.  Microsoft built such a dominance over Apple that even with Apple’s recent popularity since the iPod, they still hold a minuscule amount of PC marketshare.

Microsoft also jumped into the console gaming market with the Xbox, waging war against Sega, Sony and Nintendo.  Sega, already beaten up from contending with the PS2, collapsed into a software company, and Nintendo shifted focus to less expensive systems and more hand-held devices.  

Sony held strong until the release of the Xbox 360, and Microsoft put the nail in the coffin with strong business moves and successful promoting (and pricing) of its system over the Sony PS3.

And last week, Microsoft and Yahoo agreed to a deal that allowed Microsoft to gain significant marketshare in the Internet-software industry, which now stands as Google’s biggest threat.

Google, a company known for its explosive growth and pushing new modes of computing such as cloud computing, has decided it’s time to do something it rarely does: advertise.

Google’s billboard ad campaign is in a few major cities and will tell the story of an IT manager who is frustrated with his company’s software (most businesses run Windows and all Microsoft software titles) and eventually switches to Google Apps.  Google has also taken to Twitter to promote itself to get the message out and try to take the fight to Microsoft.

Both companies have a lot of money to throw around, but with Google’s history of software screwups this year and Microsoft’s seemingly restored ability to market after the Vista flop, Google may have its work cut out for it.

Rob @ August 4, 2009

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