Getting even with google

Over the years, I as well as many other users of adwords are getting fed-up with google.

Google is arrogant because they have no real competition.

Here's an idea:

Since we as webmasters are the ones making google rich, let's start our own search engine as follows:

1. We form a company and issue shares to webmasters at $1 a share.
2. The money is pooled to hire the best search engineers in the world to create a great search engine. The algos are stored safely with only 1 person having access to it at any point (like the KFC/Coke recipe). A management team/staff is appointed who operate the company independently of the shareholders.
3. We promote the search engines to our users/ market/advertise - we can even borrow Obama's campaign tricks - Change. Yes, we can.
4. We ask google to de-index us and prevent them from crawling us.
5. Once the search engine becomes popular, we start paid ads on search and on sites. We pay for our own ads.
6. The income made minus expenses of the company is distributed as a dividend to us webmasters who are the shareholders at financial year-end.

Why should one company like google dictate to us what we can or can't do or advertise and subject us to censorship and their ever-changing draconian stupid policies and algos?

What do you think?

 

The main problem that you are going to have is generating the contracts and agreements all online. It's something that needs to be done in physical meetings. You also have to consider that Yahoo and MSN have done exactly what you are planning to do and look at the impact they have made on Google.....not much. I'm not criticising your idea or calling it a failure but would just like your thoughts on the above to create a discussion.

 

Thanks for your input SDunroe but consider this:

Yahoo is owned by shareholders who are not webmasters and neither are the employees or management. Yahoo's failure is because they are trying to be like google when instead they should concentrate on google's failures and capitalize (we don't need another google). An example: "We only use a genuine auction model where bid prices determine ad position and clicks", or "We don't propose to know your business better than you do", etc.

MSN is part of microsoft, a software company. MSN is a search engine - two different things but they go about MSN with a software mentality. How can a company with some of the most widely used popular software on the planet can't even get the msn adcenter to work properly? Microsoft is also a shareholder owned company.

Both yahoo and msn's shareholders are profit driven.

The difference with my idea is that we will own it ourselves - webmasters. We need a good, fair, volume search for traffic and ads. We will pay the bid rate and sell our goods. The dividends we get at the end of the year will be an added bonus.

In terms of contract and agreements, proxies can be appointed in various countries. Remember webmasters worldwide will participate.

Imagine the kind of publicity we will generate if we can get this going.

Finally, I think all readers need to think out of the box here to appreciate why this might just work.

How about we take a poll and then move it on to a website to garner support?

 

Well I like the sound of it as an individual not representing Quality Clicks. I for one know ALL of the failure points of Google, Yahoo and MSN; and would also like to bring my knowledge into your plan. Keep my updated with everything and I will continue to keep checking this thread for other opinions.

 

Exactly SDunroe, that's what I'm talking about. Your knowledge will be welcome. Will keep you updated.

Now what about input from other adwords users reading this thread?

 

Count me in for one share.

 

Again as an individual, not representing my company, I'd be interesting in a share or 2!

 

right, so all you need now is around 500,000,000 x 1$ investors to get enough VC to start with, headhunt some of the best in the world (scratch that, ALL the best in the world) spend 5 years getting the algo right, another 5 years building traffic/reputation of the new SE, and then guess what, the whole internet has changed, google now resembles infoseek or altavista, and there is a whole new "google" that dominate the new web5.0 marketplace because you took 10 years to develop a product that rivals where google are now.

The only way to dominate an already dominated market is to aproach it with a whole fresh idea/concept, something that I think your idea is missing.

just my $0.02

MOG

 

Hi,

This company seem to be trying with their own big search engine - http://www.majestic12.co.uk/

But I wonder about the chances of meaningful success by 'copying' what google has done. I suspect any serious challenge would come from an area that can achieve real traction so quickly that the mighty google cannot respond quickly enough.

And if it happens we can all say wow! I wish I'd thought of that very simple idea

 

Could not have said it better myself. Innovation is what's needed to beat Google or to be the next big thing. You'll always be one step behind (more likely several) if you even try to take on Google. Why not focus on a niche? Like a search engine for a particular area (like blog search...ah bugger - Google thought of that too)

 

i am apparently missing something here ...

what exactly is google doing wrong?

or put another way, place in a balance what they do well with what they dont.

 

An interesting blog post from Seth Godin about innovation:

 

I think the OP is concerned that Google has a monopoly over paid search and indeed a great deal of power which the OP believes is being used to exploit advertisers. Fair enough.

 

again,

how exactly are advertisers being exploited?

 

I'll take 5 shares...lol