Ballmer: Google is the king of search and advertising

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 12 Oct 2007 at 10:16

Steve Ballmer has admitted that Microsoft has a lot of work ahead before it can rival Google's search and advertising offerings.

"There's the world of search and advertising, where Google is the leader and we are an aspirant, we're number three," Ballmer told delegates at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, clearly ignoring a recent study by comScore which placed Microsoft fourth in search behind Google, Yahoo and Chinese search engine Baidu.

"We've got a lot of work to do to differentiate ourselves," he continued. "We're number three, working to be number two, and working to be number one."

So far that work has seen Microsoft bulk up its search offering and acquire digital-advertising company Aquantive in a deal apparently worth $6 billion.

Ballmer was bullish about Microsoft's work so far, saying that Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions was going to be a genuine competitor to Google's wildly successful Adsense. "Our advertising system works," he said. "When we have something there, we'll show you."