Will Google’s Services for Websites Take Over the Internet?

If you are wanting to set up and build a website that is easily found by Google, and even incorporate some of Google’s high powered search features into your own website, you need not wait any longer. Google announced in 2009 its Google Services for Websites feature. Using these powerful Google tools you can integrate features to help drive traffic to your website, enhance your site for SEO, improve retention, and even monetize your site, all through the interface of your web host provider.

The Google Services for Websites is not available to just anyone who owns and runs a website. Google has made these tools available for web hosting companies only. That means only a web hosting or content publishing service can sign up to become partners with Google for these services, then turn around to offer them to web hosting clients. Any web hosting company can easily join up to become a Google Services for Websites partner, and be eligible for referral fees generated from customers who upgrade to Google Site Search and those who sign up for AdSense on their websites.

And just recently in April, 2010, Google announced that it is partnering with Parallels, a leading control panel software provider, to incorporate all the Google Services for Websites within the Plesk Panel. This will make it easy for web hosts to provide the Google services within a control panel for each client to use with their website. That is, if they offer the Plesk control panel as part of their web hosting service.

Though Google is the world-leading internet search services company, this move brings to mind the monopolistic ways of Microsoft in the 1990s when they “partnered” with computer manufactures to include the Microsoft OS and their Internet Explorer browser in every PC that shipped through the warehouse door. Sure, Microsoft had the leading operating system software starting with their Windows 95, but it had obvious problems, especially as the OS evolved through the years. And because every PC already had Windows and Explorer installed, it left little incentive for consumers to buy and try other operating systems and internet browsers. Competition was dealt a smashing blow.

So the question is, will Google live up to its internet services title for years to come, and will they still encourage competition from the likes of Yahoo!, MSN, Bing, and other software developers? There is no doubt that the Google Services for Websites can be an extremely helpful tool for small to medium sized business website owners to get their SEO in shape, and even monetized. However, as of now, only the Plesk control panel offers the Google services, putting other control panel software development companies on the hot seat to compete for facetime with web hosting companies.

In addition, will there come a time when almost all web hosting companies offer Google Services for Websites? If that day ever comes, then the world of internet services competition will be lost. If Microsoft left any lesson to us, let it be that we as consumers should always demand a choice, and not be force-fed a specific brand of software.

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