Product details

Established in 1998, Google is perceived as one of the most successful Internet start-ups Silicon Valley had ever seen. In its initial years, Google virtually had no competition and hence became the ''chosen search engine'' among the Internet users. The success of Google prompted the likes of Yahoo! and Microsoft to launch their own search engines, thereby intensifying the competition. Many more search engines followed suit as they saw an opportunity to generate revenues through the search results. Whether Google can weather the competition and still remain dominant is a question that is of interest to many, especially in the wake of its plans for an Initial Public Offering. This case study throws light on how Google and the search engine industry have evolved over the years. It goes on to discuss the revenue generation model adopted by the search engines. In particular, the case details the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising that provided better returns on advertising expenditure compared to other forms of on-line advertisements. The case also details about how PPC has attracted competition to the search engine space.