

The Skype Hyper - uuilly
http://www.economist.com/people/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9904716

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trekker7
"Increasingly, people with goods to sell set up their own websites and find
buyers by advertising on Google's search pages."

Really?

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dpapathanasiou
I'm fascinated by all the "Google is omnipotent" under-current in articles
like this these days.

It makes me think to the contrary, that Google is vulnerable somewhere, and
its continued dominance is _not_ inevitable.

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Xichekolas
I wouldn't say they were implying Google is omnipotent. The following quote
from the article pretty much paints Google in the stupid corner as well:

"By buying Skype, the internet phenomenon of 2005, eBay started a bubble.
Google, with its purchase of YouTube, the cyber-star of 2006, inflated it
further. And Microsoft and Google now appear tempted to add more froth by
investing a silly sum in Facebook, the latest big thing."

I just think Google has recently outmaneuvered its opponents
(ebay/yahoo/microsoft) and the press coverage reflects that it's temporarily
the top dog.

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dpapathanasiou
Possibly, but this is the part I was referring to:

 _"Like Yahoo!, its neighbour in Silicon Valley, eBay may be gored by Google,
the ubiquitous search engine. Increasingly, people with goods to sell set up
their own websites and find buyers by advertising on Google's search pages.
Google has also begun offering online payment and telephone services that
compete directly with PayPal and with Skype."_

Can Google _really_ dominate all those different areas? The current media
certainly seems to think so.

