Archive notice: This article was originally published on May 19, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
From 2009 onward, Google’s online search service is expected to be more profitable for the company than Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Google owes this particularly to paid, keyword-specific advertising placements.
This is the view of IT-industry blog Silicon Alley Insider in an article by former analyst Henry Blodget. The forecast does not even take Google’s business with the Google AdSense advertising program into account. If the services continue to develop at the same pace, Google will earn more from Internet search than Microsoft earns from Windows by 2009 at the latest.
Microsoft’s online services lag far behind Google’s. Branding for Windows operating systems or Microsoft Office works significantly better than for Microsoft’s Internet portals. Google enjoys greater popularity with users and is used much more often. Search alone earned its operators $3.4 billion in March of this year.
Microsoft’s online presence, by contrast, reaches only one billion dollars. The company’s main support in future is therefore expected to be Microsoft Office. Combined with Windows, the package still gives the company a substantial lead over Google.
