SEO Blog

Dell and Google have partnered up and are currently testing software for new Dell PC’s. Official word has not yet been given as to what the entire bundle will contain, although some details were mentioned.

“We can confirm that we are running a test with Google that could include a Google-powered Dell home page, Google desktop search and a Google Toolbar,” Bob Kaufman, a spokesman for Dell, told Reuters.

Further speculation points to a Google browser, or perhaps some sort of office software.

Unconfirmed reports claim the software, which both companies collaborated in developing, will be pre-installed on 100 million computers. The Wall Street Journal reports that the companies are considering a 3 year deal in the 1 billion dollar range.

Competition amongst the search engines is more competitive than ever. A recent study conducted by Forrester Research claims that Internet users are not completely loyal to one specific engine. Instead, most users access multiple engines for their search needs.

Forrester polled 5,000 users across North America, showing that while 40 percent of Internet users claim loyalty to one master, 49 percent use a variety of engines. Part of this has to do with new engines constantly cropping up to challenge for a slice of the pie, offering different, or niche search services.

But it also has to do with each engine’s strengths and weaknesses. According to the study, those that use multiple engines claim that while their primary engine of choice provides relevant information for a lot of searches, it is not as effective at finding other items such as people, businesses or multimedia.

Between the big four, which include Google, AOL, MSN and Yahoo!:

• Google (which maintains 41 percent of the market) was rated as the best for information-related searches.
• MSN and Yahoo! provided the best music and video results.
• AOL was least favored in all categories.