Google Re-Imagined As World’s Third-Biggest ISP
March 17, 2010
It's common knowledge in the U.S. search industry that Google has a market share of about 65 percent. Lots of people know (or at least know how to check) the search giant's market cap, too (it's currently at $180 billion). But another measure of Google's size was presented yesterday, and it turns out that Google is on par with all but the biggest ISPs.
Craig Labovitz, Chief Scientist of Arbor Networks, stated on his company's blog, "If Google were an ISP, it would be the fastest growing and third largest global carrier. Only two other providers (both of whom carry significant volumes of Google transit) contribute more inter-domain traffic. But unlike most global carriers (i.e. the 'tier1s'), Google's backbone does not deliver traffic on behalf of millions of subscribers nor thousands of regional networks and large enterprises. Google's infrastructure supports, well, only Google."
Those are some fairly astonishing observations. Then here's another fascinating tidbit: Labovitz continued, "Based on anonymous data from 110 ISPs around the world, we estimate Google contributes somewhere between 6-10% of all Internet traffic globally as of the of summer of 2009."
It's hard not to see Google's fiber network experiments in a different light after absorbing this information. The company might not just thrill the residents of a few towns and make ISPs nervous; Google really does appear capable of changing how the industry works, and may even be able to do so without breaking a figurative sweat.
We'll be sure to keep an eye on ISPs' reactions as Google moves ahead with its tests.
Google Re-Imagined As World’s Third-Biggest ISP
March 17, 2010
It's common knowledge in the U.S. search industry that Google has a market share of about 65 percent. Lots of people know (or at least know how to check) the search giant's market cap, too (it's currently at $180 billion). But another measure of Google's size was presented yesterday, and it turns out that Google is on par with all but the biggest ISPs.
Craig Labovitz, Chief Scientist of Arbor Networks, stated on his company's blog, "If Google were an ISP, it would be the fastest growing and third largest global carrier. Only two other providers (both of whom carry significant volumes of Google transit) contribute more inter-domain traffic. But unlike most global carriers (i.e. the 'tier1s'), Google's backbone does not deliver traffic on behalf of millions of subscribers nor thousands of regional networks and large enterprises. Google's infrastructure supports, well, only Google."
Those are some fairly astonishing observations. Then here's another fascinating tidbit: Labovitz continued, "Based on anonymous data from 110 ISPs around the world, we estimate Google contributes somewhere between 6-10% of all Internet traffic globally as of the of summer of 2009."
It's hard not to see Google's fiber network experiments in a different light after absorbing this information. The company might not just thrill the residents of a few towns and make ISPs nervous; Google really does appear capable of changing how the industry works, and may even be able to do so without breaking a figurative sweat.
We'll be sure to keep an eye on ISPs' reactions as Google moves ahead with its tests.
Microsoft Presents European Web Browser Choice Screen
February 21, 2010
Starting sometime around the first of March, Microsoft is going to give Europeans an obvious chance to pick something other than Internet Explorer as their Web browser. And starting today, Microsoft's given the whole world a chance to see what its "Web browser choice screen" looks like.
This ballot screen has been in the works for a long time. The process began when European regulators objected to Windows and Internet Explorer being bundled together. Then, a proposal that would have put all of the different browser choices in alphabetical order was vetoed.
Eventually, all of the parties agreed upon displaying the browser's names in a random order.
Now tests are set to begin next week in Belgium, France, and the U.K., with a full-scale rollout planned for early March. The browser choice screen software will reach people via Windows Update, and should (except for the order of the browsers) resemble the picture below.
Microsoft seemed rather pleased to announce that all of this is taking place ahead of the European Commission's schedule. We're just very curious to see what Internet Explorer's market share will look like come April.
Microsoft Presents European Web Browser Choice Screen
February 19, 2010
Starting sometime around the first of March, Microsoft is going to give Europeans an obvious chance to pick something other than Internet Explorer as their Web browser. And starting today, Microsoft's given the whole world a chance to see what its "Web browser choice screen" looks like.
This ballot screen has been in the works for a long time. The process began when European regulators objected to Windows and Internet Explorer being bundled together. Then, a proposal that would have put all of the different browser choices in alphabetical order was vetoed.
Eventually, all of the parties agreed upon displaying the browser's names in a random order.
Now tests are set to begin next week in Belgium, France, and the U.K., with a full-scale rollout planned for early March. The browser choice screen software will reach people via Windows Update, and should (except for the order of the browsers) resemble the picture below.
Microsoft seemed rather pleased to announce that all of this is taking place ahead of the European Commission's schedule. We're just very curious to see what Internet Explorer's market share will look like come April.
