Google...in the developed countries, everyone knows this word even if they don't have connections to the Internet. From my point of view, although Google has a strong power and is likely to be omnipresent, Google.co.jp is just one of many search engines.
One of the reasons why I think this way is that Google.co.jp is not so developed in Japan as the way in the United States. I mean, when I search about Japanese things, Google.co.jp tends not to show what I want to know. Yahoo! JAPAN is better for me but many Japanse started using Google.co.jp instead of Yahoo! JAPAN and other search engines. Furthermore, on July 27th 2010, Yahoo! JAPAN announced that it made an alliance with Google about the seach engine. It doesn't come true yet, but near future, Yahoo! JAPAN and Google would be the one strongest search engine in Japan.
Of course, when I look up American things or things written in English, I definietly use Google.com. Now, I came up with one question. I like Japanese Yahoo!, but why don't I use American Yahoo! as the search engine for American things? I don't know why..but in my mind, the image "the United States = search engines= Google" has already formed.
I agree that the image of google is formed in American search engine, but I still use yahoo sometimes! since I have an Yahoo email, it is easier to search there!!
ReplyDeleteI see! In the United States, what email account is the most common? Is it yahoo, gmail, or something?
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, Mika. Despite Google's efforts, it has not been able to establish itself as the leading search engine in ANY of the leading Asian markets. In Japan, Yahoo still has a 55% market share, although Google is gaining at around 38% (http://actionableinsights.covario.com/1547/google-gains-market-share-in-japan-through-deal-with-yahoo-japan/). In China, Baidu enjoyed a 56% market share while Google had 26%. In South Korea, Google's share is a mere 3%.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Dr. Macek.
ReplyDeleteGoogle's share in Asian coutries is a surprising number for me. I wonder why the share is so little in South Korea.