Google 2008 Annual Report Download - page 31

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Please find page 31 of the 2008 Google annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

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Competition
We operate in a market that is characterized by rapid change and converging, as well as new and disruptive
technologies, and we face formidable competition in every aspect of our business, particularly from companies
that seek to connect people with information on the web and provide them with relevant advertising. Currently, we
consider our primary competitors to be Microsoft Corporation and Yahoo! Inc.
We face competition from other web search providers, including start-ups as well as developed companies
that are enhancing or developing search technologies. We compete with internet advertising companies,
particularly in the areas of pay-for-performance and keyword-targeted internet advertising. Also, we may compete
with companies that sell products and services online because these companies, like us, are trying to attract users
to their web sites to search for information about products and services. We also provide a number of online
products and services, including Gmail, YouTube, and Google Docs, that compete directly with new and
established companies that offer communication, information, and entertainment services integrated into their
products or media properties. We also compete with web sites that provide their own or user-generated content
and provide advertising to their users.
We compete to attract and retain relationships with users, advertisers and Google Network members and
other content providers in different ways:
•Users. We compete to attract and retain users of our search and communication products and services.
Most of the products and services we offer to users are free, so we do not compete on price. Instead, we
compete in this area on the basis of the relevance and usefulness of our search results and the features,
availability and ease of use of our products and services.
•Advertisers. We compete to attract and retain advertisers. We compete in this area principally on the basis
of the return on investment realized by advertisers using our AdWords and AdSense programs. We also
compete based on the quality of customer service, features and ease of use of our products and services.
•Google Network members and other content providers. We compete to attract and retain content
providers (Google Network members, as well as other content providers for whom we distribute or license
content) primarily based on the size and quality of our advertiser base, our ability to help these partners
generate revenues from advertising and the terms of the agreements.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws in the U.S. and other
jurisdictions as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary technology
and our brand. We also enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and
consultants and confidentiality agreements with other third parties, and we rigorously control access to proprietary
technology.
Google, YouTube, DoubleClick, DART, AdSense, AdWords, Gmail, I’m Feeling Lucky, PageRank, Blogger,
orkut, Picasa, SketchUp and Postini are registered trademarks in the U.S. Our unregistered trademarks include,
Blog*Spot, Jaiku, Android, Open Handset Alliance, OpenSocial, Panoramio, and Knol.
The first version of the PageRank technology was created while Larry and Sergey attended Stanford
University, which owns a patent to PageRank. The PageRank patent expires in 2017. We hold a perpetual license to
this patent. In October 2003, we extended our exclusivity period to this patent through 2011, at which point our
license will become non-exclusive.
Circumstances outside our control could pose a threat to our intellectual property rights. For example,
effective intellectual property protection may not be available in every country in which our products and services
are distributed. Also, the efforts we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient or effective.
Any significant impairment of our intellectual property rights could harm our business or our ability to compete.
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