Internet titans Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and America Online are locked in a fierce battle to win the fortune that comes with the loyalty of computer users, experts said on August 24.
"There is kind of a land-grab going on," Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, told AFP. "There could be a natural monopoly that goes to the player who has the most muscle, delivers the best service." US Internet giants are ducking it out in four arenas: search, email, instant messaging, and portal services such as mapping and computer telephone calling, according to Yankee Group analyst, Su Li Walker.
"Everyone was somewhat in limbo, then Google came out with a search and everyone perked up to improve their offerings," Walker said.
Internet giants were offering disparate free services because once computer users step through a portal, they could be directed to features that produced revenue or be targeted for advertising, experts said.
There is a "head-to-head" between Microsoft and Google, said analyst Matt Rosoff of Directions on Microsoft, an independent research firm.
Google released Google Talk, a combination of instant messaging, computer telephone calling and email.
Microsoft had its mapping program "sitting around for years," only to rush it online after Google debuted a mapping service, Rosoff noted.
Microsoft launched its MSN search engine in January after Google showed the way to make money on search with paid listings, one area that Microsoft thought was potentially very lucrative and fast growing.
In an odd reversal of images, Microsoft had become the "gentle giant" and Google the "hard guys" in the portal wars, Kay observed. There is speculation that Google plans a free wireless network covering US, according to Rosoff. "If a portal could make fifty cents a month from those users, it would add up real quickly," Juliussen added.
Each of the portals has different strengths, and their market shares could depend on how they tailor services to different countries.
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