Internet

Try Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS
CLICK HERE NOW

Google's Secret Weapon

12/12/07 - 03:52 PM EST

Vishesh Kumar

Google(GOOG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) already dominates the booming search market.

And it figures to extend that lead by exploiting a data advantage that allows it to deliver superior search results and attract even more users.

Having an increasing share of searches run on its search engine is an important, and often overlooked, advantage it has over competitors such as Yahoo!(YHOO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Microsoft(MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

This advantage creates a self-reinforcing cycle that draws even more users to Google.

Google's data advantage, which derives from its large share of user searches, gives the Web giant superior insight into user behavior and intent, which results in superior search results.

This, in turn, attracts more users to the company's search engine, thereby providing it with even more data. The implications of this phenomenon -- the subject of much debate in the search community -- are profound for investors.

Of the 61 billion searches conducted worldwide in August, 37 billion were conducted on Google's search engine, according to researcher ComScore.

"Because they have more data, Google can train their algorithms (the mathematical formulas computers run to come up with the results to search queries, among other things) better than any of their competitors," says Ani Kortikar, CEO of search marketing firm Netramind.

Previous «
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Previous Story

Classmates IPO Held Back

Life & Money

Internet

Go To Section Home


12/12/07
Classmates IPO Held Back

United Online pulled the public offering of its social networking site.


12/05/07
Google, TomTom in Maps Pact

Users can search for and send business addresses directly from Google Maps to navigation devices.


12/04/07
Cisco Hires Motorola's Warrior

Padmasree Warrior named as Cisco's CTO.


08/05/08
Three Internet Stocks That Could Double

These forgotten Internet stocks are being accumulated by hedge funds.


08/15/08
The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street

Raspberries for Apple; You'll be sorry, UBS; Fortress or Fort Knox? Wholly unappetizing Foods; give Liberty AOL or give them...


08/15/08
McCain Fund-Raising Picks Up

The GOP presidential candidate raised $27 million in July.


08/15/08
Cash-Back Cards Aren't Money in the Bank

Some credit and debit cards give you some cash back on purchases. But you need to manage it well to benefit from it.


Your Recent Quotes: Quote Up0 | Quote Down0
Dow S&P 500 NASDAQ
Oil*
Gold
10 Yr
0.00%
%
%
%
Data delayed 20 min
Sign up for our FREE newsletters now. See All

  • Cramer's Daily Booyah!
  • Before the Bell

Premium Stock Ideas
Access Action Alerts Plus to find out Cramer’s latest picks now!