GOOG » Topics » Risks Related to Our Business and Industry We face significant competition from Microsoft and Yahoo.

This excerpt taken from the GOOG 10-K filed Feb 13, 2009.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We face significant competition from Microsoft and Yahoo.

STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%">We face formidable competition in every aspect of our business, and particularly from other companies that seek to connect people with information on the
web and provide them with relevant advertising. Currently, we consider our primary competitors to be Microsoft Corporation and Yahoo! Inc. Microsoft has developed features that make web search a more integrated part of its Windows operating system
and other desktop software products. We expect that Microsoft will increasingly use its financial and engineering resources to compete with us. Microsoft has more employees and cash resources than we do. Also, both Microsoft and Yahoo have longer
operating histories and more established relationships with customers and end users. They can use their experience and resources against us in a variety of competitive ways, including by making acquisitions, investing more aggressively in research
and development and competing more aggressively for advertisers and web sites. Microsoft and Yahoo also may have a greater ability to attract and retain users than we do because they operate internet portals with a broad range of content products
and services. If Microsoft or Yahoo is successful in providing similar or better web search results or more relevant advertisements, or in leveraging their platforms or products to make their web search or advertising services easier to access, we
could experience a significant decline in user traffic or the size of the Google Network. Any such decline could negatively affect our revenues.

SIZE="2">We face competition across all geographic markets from other internet companies, including web search providers, internet access providers, internet advertising companies, destination web sites, and local information providers, and
from traditional media companies.

In addition to Microsoft and Yahoo, we face competition from other web search providers,
including start-ups as well as developed companies that are enhancing or developing search technologies. We compete with internet advertising companies, particularly in the areas of pay-for-performance and keyword-targeted internet advertising.
Also, we may compete with companies that sell products and services online because these companies, like us, are trying to attract users to their web sites to search for information about products and services. We also provide a number of online
products and services, including Gmail, YouTube, and Google Docs, that compete directly with new and established companies that offer communication, information, and entertainment services integrated into their products or media properties.

We also compete with web sites that provide their own or user-generated content and provide advertising to their users. These destination
web sites include those operated by internet access providers, such as cable and DSL service providers. Because our users need to access our services through internet access providers, they have direct relationships

 


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with these providers. If an access provider or a computer or computing device manufacturer offers online services that compete with ours, the user may find
it more convenient to use the services of the access provider or manufacturer. Also, because the access provider gathers information from the user in connection with the establishment of a billing relationship, the access provider may be more
effective than we are in tailoring services and advertisements to the specific tastes of the user.

In certain markets outside the U.S.,
other web search, advertising services, and internet companies have greater brand recognition, more users, and more search traffic than we have. Even in countries where we have a significant user following, we may not be as successful in generating
advertising revenue due to slower market development, our inability to provide attractive local advertising services or other factors. In order to compete, we need to better understand our international users and their preferences, improve our brand
recognition, our selling efforts internationally, and build stronger relationships with advertisers. If we fail to do so, our global expansion efforts may be more costly and less profitable than we expect.

STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%">In addition to internet companies, internet advertising companies such as Google face competition from companies that offer traditional media advertising
opportunities. Most large advertisers have fixed advertising budgets, a small portion of which is allocated to internet advertising. We expect that large advertisers will continue to focus most of their advertising efforts on traditional media. If
we fail to convince these companies to spend a portion of their advertising budgets with us, or if our existing advertisers reduce the amount they spend on our programs, our operating results would be harmed.

STYLE="margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:2%">We expect our revenue growth rate to decline and anticipate downward pressure on our operating margin in the future.

STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%">We believe our revenue growth rate will generally decline as a result of a number of factors including increasing competition, the inevitable decline in
growth rates as our revenues increase to higher levels and the increasing maturity of the online advertising market. We believe our operating margin will experience downward pressure as a result of increasing competition and increased expenditures
for many aspects of our business. Our operating margin will also experience downward pressure if a greater percentage of our revenues comes from ads placed on our Google Network members’ web sites compared to revenues generated through ads
placed on our own web sites or if we spend a proportionately larger amount to promote the distribution of certain products, including Google Toolbar. The margin on revenue we generate from our Google Network members is significantly less than the
margin on revenue we generate from advertising on our web sites. Additionally, the margin we earn on revenue generated from our Google Network members could decrease in the future if we pay an even larger percentage of advertising fees to our Google
Network members.

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