Google should acquire Twitter. Now, not later!
written by: Denise Keniston Twitter is abuzz this morning with the thought that Twitter might supplant Google as search king sometime in the future. While I think the possibility of taking over search from Google is far fetched I do see the potential for an erosion of Google’s search dominance. Furthermore, as the internet continues to expand and change I believe Twitter poses a real risk for Google.
From where I sit I can easily see Google becoming the new Microsoft: a sleeping giant that grew so fast and so big it was unable to stay out in front of changes that ultimately made it irrelevant. As we all know getting to the top (as Google has done) is one thing, but staying there is another. The internet fuels innovation and is a beacon for brilliant and talented people with boundless ideas relative to how people communicate and interact with each other. These innovators are thinking day and night. Their creativity is flowing and generating excitement. THEY ARE GOOGLE’S REAL COMPETITION. However, it’s impossible to fight them on every front.
Google must act now regarding Twitter. Make them an offer they can’t refuse. Don’t waste a minute. What I know instinctively as a professional who works every day with clients and their PPC and SEO efforts, is that there is a shift happening. SEO/PPC seem “old” and my clients want to talk about leveraging social marketing as their new frontier.
The internet is essentially a human experience, thus IT IS FICKLE. They loved you yesterday, but there’s a new boy in town. He’s fresh ,fun and exciting and everyone is talking about him.
I still love you Google. You have a proven track record and you’ve been good to me. BUT, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION! Your real competition is here right now. Act quickly.
Share on FriendFeed
Loreen72 said,
February 26, 2009 @ 4:05 pm
I love Google and I love Twitter. Would be happy if they became Twoogle. (Because the alternative is Gowitter - and hey - that’s not fun!)
I’m a pretty prolific Twitter users. I read tweets, follow the links, comment on the blogs, and add my own two sense to the Twitter stream. However, I’m not seeing how Twitter would replace Google as a search engine. If I’m looking for movie theaters in Austin, Tx because I’ll be on vaca there in two weeks, I’m not going to go to Twitter for that. If I wanted to know information about SXSW - I would go to Google to get the SXSW link and maybe the link to Austin, TX. Then I would hit Twitter to see what folks knew about some of the bars, clubs, and venues the bands would be playing in.
If I want to know the lyrics to a certain song- I just type the few I know into the Google Search bar - and up pops the artist, song name, album name, and the entire lyrics. Not going to get that in Twitter w/ the 140 word restrictions.
I can see the two being blended quite nicely - and would LOVE to be able to see real time tweets about a topic I’m currently researching. But Twitter replace Google for searching??? I’m not entirely sold on that thought yet.
Jenn Nickerson said,
February 26, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
–Amen! The Feedburner acquisition and subscriber losses, gmail outages and some other snags have made me wonder if Microsoft quietly bought Google when no one was looking!