Ask HN: What will happen if Google shutdown?
Google has changed the world, but how badly is the world dependent on it? Would the world come to an end of Google didn't exist?
2 comments
There are other search engines: Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.
In a large parts of the world, Google isn't even the biggest search engine. In Russia, Yandex has 60% of the search market[1]. In China, Baidu is the biggest search engine, with 57% of the search market.[2]
And if Google were to shut down, new companies might enter the market.
As for Gmail, there are hundreds of competing e-mail services. And there are competing map services, smartphone operating systems, etc.
It's debatable how much Google really changed the world, since it wasn't the first company in any of these markets. They had a new and clever search algorithm, but their competitors have also improved over the years.
My primary search engine is DuckDuckGo, and I rarely use any of Google's services. If Google disappeared tomorrow, I might not even notice.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu
In a large parts of the world, Google isn't even the biggest search engine. In Russia, Yandex has 60% of the search market[1]. In China, Baidu is the biggest search engine, with 57% of the search market.[2]
And if Google were to shut down, new companies might enter the market.
As for Gmail, there are hundreds of competing e-mail services. And there are competing map services, smartphone operating systems, etc.
It's debatable how much Google really changed the world, since it wasn't the first company in any of these markets. They had a new and clever search algorithm, but their competitors have also improved over the years.
My primary search engine is DuckDuckGo, and I rarely use any of Google's services. If Google disappeared tomorrow, I might not even notice.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baidu
Other tech companies will recruit Google's talent and change the world in their own way. The world will be just fine.