> Can Google or Facebook ever have a true competitor?
Unlikely. But never say never.Both companies, have built dominant market positions and have advantages that competitors will likely be unable to overcome.Peter Thiel even argues Google is a monopoly.
> but is it going to be the same always?
No. If it were, then the future is already fixed, knowable and stagnant.Unlikely :(
> If not, then what will cause us to move to a different search engine? What can XYZ make to cause people to leave FB and come to its network?
Three things.
1.The company loses direction, is taken over by less competent management or implodes under its own weight e.g Walmart, GM, Apple.
2. Government regulation or public pushback creates conditions for its dissolution. Think Bell, Standard Oil
3. New competitors emerge. A giant slayer in this case, may initially not seem like a threat at all and may even operate in a different market space or industry from search or social media eg gaming, VR, IOT. Paul Graham has a good article on this.
Btw, I think FB is dying and that's part of the reason they acquired Whatsapp. It will be obvious in 5 years and they'll be gone in a decade or decade and a half.So is Apple,at least in its current form.
> but is it going to be the same always? No. If it were, then the future is already fixed, knowable and stagnant.Unlikely :(
> If not, then what will cause us to move to a different search engine? What can XYZ make to cause people to leave FB and come to its network?
Three things.
1.The company loses direction, is taken over by less competent management or implodes under its own weight e.g Walmart, GM, Apple. 2. Government regulation or public pushback creates conditions for its dissolution. Think Bell, Standard Oil 3. New competitors emerge. A giant slayer in this case, may initially not seem like a threat at all and may even operate in a different market space or industry from search or social media eg gaming, VR, IOT. Paul Graham has a good article on this.
Btw, I think FB is dying and that's part of the reason they acquired Whatsapp. It will be obvious in 5 years and they'll be gone in a decade or decade and a half.So is Apple,at least in its current form.