Yes, Google are still a very innovative company with some really clever people working for them. But are they invincible? Most definitely not. (Just look at history.)
Like most free web services, Google makes it's money from people's personal data. With an increasing number of people, that's a pretty unpopular business model. Especially in places like Germany, many people do actually care about their privacy - and Snowden has additionally done a lot of damage to the image of American companies in that respect. As a personal example, I have been virtually "Google-free" for over a year, and am doing great. I switched from GMail to another email provider, and started using DuckDuckGo as my search engine (which, in my opinion, is technically superior as well as more privacy-aware).
Even if every single one of their products was the most technically advanced on the market (which is not the case), there would still be a significant market share for companies who cater to people who do not want to sell their digital souls to Google.
Can you explain why you find DuckDuckGo technically superior to Google Search? I tried switching to DDG a few months back and found that the results were less relevant overall.
I really like the "bang" searches they provide. I agree that their actual search results are not quite as good as Google's, but the ability to search the site I want straight from my browser search bar is brilliant.
Like most free web services, Google makes it's money from people's personal data. With an increasing number of people, that's a pretty unpopular business model. Especially in places like Germany, many people do actually care about their privacy - and Snowden has additionally done a lot of damage to the image of American companies in that respect. As a personal example, I have been virtually "Google-free" for over a year, and am doing great. I switched from GMail to another email provider, and started using DuckDuckGo as my search engine (which, in my opinion, is technically superior as well as more privacy-aware).
Even if every single one of their products was the most technically advanced on the market (which is not the case), there would still be a significant market share for companies who cater to people who do not want to sell their digital souls to Google.