The search engine advertising world is ruled by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG). The company has long maintained dominance over offerings from Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), but new threats are on the horizon. Yahoo is now resurgent, and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is heading for search dollars in a meaningful way.
A new report from Raymond James, which was authored by Aaron Kessler, indicates that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is still performing strongly and Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) has managed to shore up losses, but pressure is building from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) as the social search is becoming a real factor.
Facebook and FBX
The three search engine marketeers that this report sources for information were Performics, Rimm-Kaufman Group, and Covario. The data offered by these companies is more directional than concrete according to Kessler, but it does offer some valuable insight into changes in the search engine advertising world.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is currently rolling out the Facebook Advertising Exchange. The service will allow advertisers to show ads based on very recent browsing history, and the response from consumers will be pretty direct. This is an extremely attractive proposition, according to comments from SEMs, and it could eat into Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) search business in the years ahead.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is performing extremely well in 2013, bringing back investor confidence and continuing to grow the firm’s advertising offerings. It is facing Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), however, and that company knows the online advertising business. Google will, according to this report, grow gross advertising revenues by 15 percent for the current quarter.
Google and Facebook take the field
The battle between Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) started to be fought long before the social network was a viable business. Google has seen many of its attempts to drive Facebook out of its business fail, but the company has kept a hold on the online advertising business. For the first time, Facebook and Google are on the same battlefield.
The online advertising market is still growing. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is fighting over a growing pie, so it will seem that both are winning for quite a while. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) investors hope to see its portion of the growing market steal steam from Google. If it can’t, the firm will be in a mature web market with a tiny share in just a few years.
