Facebook is facing a serious dilemma in the
next few Quarters of 2012AD. This as Google
Chrome, their crash-prone Browser, is set to become the No. 1 Browser in the
world. This is impressive in itself, as
four (4) years ago in 2008AD, Google
Chrome was a nobody as stated in the article “Why
Facebook needs to build a Browser”,
published April 14, 2012 10:40 AM PDT by Ben Parr, CNET News while IE had 68.5% of the market.
Google Chrome now four (4) years wiser, has
flipped the script and to this present day has whittled down the lead of IE to
34.8% with Google Chrome in their rear
view mirror commanding 30.9% of total Browser deployments.
Take
a look at the graph below:
Google Chrome 16 had beat out IE8 (Internet
Explorer) for pole position briefly in December 2011AD as stated in the
article “Chrome
scores a victory in the Browser wars’, published December 16, 2011 10:19 AM
PST Harry McCrackenCNET News “Chrome
15 beats out Internet Explorer 8 in global popularity”, published December 15, 2011 By Mike Flacy, DigitalTrends.
In
that period of time, Mozilla Firefox, the Open Source Browser frequently update
by the Mozilla Foundation fell to No.3 position. A very grave concern for
Mozilla at the time, as it was felt that they were slowly losing relevance as
argued in the following articles “Is
Firefox’s fate up in the air?”, published December
5, 2011 By
Molly McHugh, DigitalTrends
and “Facing
Trouble, Mozilla Argues Importance of Firefox”, published December 5, 2011
1:19 PM By Jared Newman,
PCWorld .
It
was also felt that Google had effectively
breached its Search Engine Royalty Agreement with the Mozilla Foundation. Such
worries were soon laid to rest. This as Google
renewed its Search Engine Royalty Agreement with Mozilla Foundation on 20th
December 2011AD.
Value
of the Friendship with Google: US$900
million for the next three (3) years, approximately US$300 million per year as
detailed in the article “Firefox
saved as Google renews default search engine deal”, published December 20, 2011 By Jeff Hughes, DigitalTrends and “More
details on the Google/Firefox deal emerge, big numbers involved”, published
December 23, 2011 By Andy
Boxall, DigitalTrends
Based
on the statistics of analyst StatCounter which relayed all the above and made
it as plain as a graph to understand, I would like to declare that StatCounter
is now my favourite analyst for the First Quarter of 2012AD as they are the
first to herald the coming demise of Facebook!
A
serious concern for Facebook, which
relies heavily on visitors to its website from IE, the Browser of its
partner-in-crime Microsoft. Visitors to Facebook
normally use the default IE 6 browsers on their computer instead of the
competition, mainly Google Chrome and
Firefox.
Interestingly,
Microsoft as far back as December 2011AD was trying to gently grandfather users
of the outdate IE 6 to IE 8 (Windows XP Professional) and IE 9 (Windows 7) as
stated in the article “Microsoft actively
urges IE 6 users to upgrade” November
30, 2009 3:08 PM PST by Stephen
ShanklandCNET
News “Microsoft
to start silent upgrades to Internet Explorer” published December 15, 2011 By Geoff Duncan, DigitalTrends.
Thus far the transition has been slow, mainly
because most Americans and the rest of the normal people worldwide, aren’t into
browsers specs. Thus the need to change something known for something unknown
i.e. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox
when IE 6 already come pre-loaded on Windows is at the heart of the stubborn
resilience of IE 6.
The
Software Developer Community since January 2012AD has been gravely alarmed over
Google’s Machiavellian ambitions to integrate Google+
Search results into Google Chrome as
expressed in “Engineers
from Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace
collaborate to challenge Google’s Search Plus Your World”, published January 23, 2012 By Molly McHugh, DigitalTrends.
An
initiative called Google Search Plus Your
World, it’s the first indication that something was definitely wrong in the
Search Engine world and possibly, possibly, just maybe the unthinkable was happening:
Google may be evil! The integration of the
different products being offered by Google
is now evident if one looks at Google’s
Search Page, which now has a convenient floating tab at the top left corner of
the page.
Effectively,
Google can control what results appear in
their Search engine, biasing search results towards any product platform that
they own. Emphasis here folks: this is a VERY serious developement in the
Search Engine World that not only affects Facebook
but every other website, blog or Social Network NOT affiliated with or enemies
of Google!
Example1
: The No.2 Search Engine and excellent video finder is YouTube, which is set to
make a profit this year as stated in my blog article entitled “YouTube’s
March To profitability in the Fourth Quarter of 2012AD - Digital Video and
Music Piracy of the Caribbean On stranger Tides”. Google can make it profitable by pushing more
searches for videos to YouTube, not to mention making partnerships with Video
Downloading software to track and monetize what is effectively piracy.
Example
2: Google + was a Social Network outing
that began with Google +1 initiative in
March 2011AD which I had predicted was the precursors for a Social Network as
stated in my blog article entitled “Google
+1 and their Social Networks Machinations - If Tomorrow Comes”.
Their
nascent yet slowly rising Social Network Google+
would obviously get a boost. All of this is to the disadvantage of Facebook, Google’s
competitor. In essence, it’s a conflict of interest on the part of Google and Software Developers know it. These
changes set a dangerous precedent and indicate that Google is willing to be ruthless to get its
way.
We
did not have to wait long to confirm Google
turn to the Dark Side: Google soon began
integrating Google+ with their Google Chrome as well by January 10th
2012AD as stated in the article “Google
starts to integrate Google+ with search results” published January 10, 2012
By Geoff Duncan, DigitalTrends.
Throw in the fact that Google Chrome OS is bubbling Google
Chrome books celebrate 1 year anniversary”, published December 12, 2011 By Molly McHugh, DigitalTrends.
Google Chrome OS is still seen as the wave of the future
as opined in my blog article
entitled “Google
Chrome OS and Open Source - Star Wars A New Hope”. Simple fix for the slow
sales of Google Chrome books: aesthetics changes to make the laptops look
and function like Apple MacBook Airs would see them fly off the shelves, making
the worries of Microsoft and Facebook
double.
So what’s Facebook to do against the coming horde from Google as it gathers the pieces of itself like a just
destroyed but indestructible Sentinel named Nimrod, X-Men Style?
Building their own Browser is an option as
suggested in the article “Why
Facebook needs to build a Browser”,
published April 14, 2012 10:40 AM PDT by Ben Parr, CNET News is logical but will take months to
gain traction, even with Facebook’s reach.
A partnership with RockMelt is also feasible, but will take awhile to gain
traction as they do not occupy a significant portion of the Browser market to
be popular within 2012AD.
Don’t
underestimate the growing power of Google
Chrome OS and ChromeBooks, which may also make a debut on Tablets soon as
prognosticate in my blog article
entitled “Google Chrome OS for Tablets Coming -
Around the World in 80 Days”.
So
any move to partner with a Browser or make a Browser is a late move at best and
is an option that has thus far escaped Facebook.
It would have had an effect had it been done as far back as 2008AD as it would
appear that it takes four (4) years for a new Open Source Browser to become
relevant.
Thus
the answer, realistically and ironically, lies with Microsoft IE 10.
Microsoft,
an investor in Facebook, needs to improve
Internet Explorer by not only enableing it with all the features of its rival Google Chrome, but to also make the Browser
Open Source and free. By gaining the support of the Open Source Developer
Community, they can leverage their slim lead to their advantage by getting more
of their code into the able hands of the Open Source Community.
Internet
Explorer is a default standard on all Window 7 Machines, now slowly gaining on
Windows XP Professional as the most popular Windows OS in the market as stated
in the Geezam blog article entitled “Windows
7 trumps Windows XP for Pole Position – Windows 8 Cloudy Future”.
This
can be done by making IE 9 free for all Windows 7 users instead of users having
to purchase it. Including IE 9 in the updates for Windows 7 is already a good
start as stated in the article “Microsoft actively
urges IE 6 users to upgrade” November
30, 2009 3:08 PM PST by Stephen
ShanklandCNET
News “Microsoft
to start silent upgrades to Internet Explorer” published December 15, 2011 By Geoff Duncan, DigitalTrends.
The
upgrade to Windows 8, which is widely expected to debut as IE 10 and be a
Cloud-based OS like Google Chrome OS as
opined in my
blog article entitled “Windows
and Cloud Computing - Audia Resident Evil After-Market Taste-and-Buy” is an
opportunity for Microsoft to regain market share as well as assist its partner Facebook.
Finally
Facebook needs to push its presence on
Mobile platforms, be they smartphones, Tablets or Ultrabooks. This is the same
prescription that has been suggested to help save Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox Browser
in the long run as stated in my Geezam Blog
article entitled “Chrome
16 beats Firefox and IE8 –Mozilla going Mobile and Cloud OS on Smartphones,
Tablets and UltraBoooks”.
Mozilla
has no presence in the Mobile world as stated in the article “Every
moment counts in Mozilla's bid for Mobile relevance”, published January 25,
2012 4:10 AM PST Stephen ShanklandCNET News The increasing relevance of Mobile Browsing as stated in
the article “Uh-oh,
PC: Half of computing device sales are Mobile”, published Kevin
C. Tofel, GigaOM
In
summary, Facebook,
like Mozilla Firefox, needs to put increasing emphasis on its Mobile smartphone
users and the coming Mobile Internet Revolution Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
style against the coming Nimrod X-Men Style that is Google+.
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