Google may be the leader in the worldwide search engine market, but in Nippon, it has some catching up to do: In 2007, Yahoo Japan saw a whopping 76% of the nearly 350 billion search engine and portal-related pageviews registered in the country, clearly outperforming Google (second with 5.4%, according to Nielsen Japan). More recently, ComScore shows that in July, Yahoo Japan had ten times as many monthly pageviews (21.9 billion versus 2.2 billion for Google) and nearly twice as many monthly unique Japanese visitors (46 million versus 26 million).
The Japanese web market is just too big to be shrugged off: The country boasts one of the highest Internet penetrations worldwide (74%, compared to 70% in the USA), a $5.7 billion online advertising market (out if one estimated to be worth $45 billion globally) and is ranked No. 3 in terms of total web population (94 million, about as many as Germany and the UK combined).
So how does Google challenge Yahoo’s position as the hub of the Japanese Internet?
In the West, the popularity of Internet portals has waned in the past years, but not in Japan, where seven sites in Alexa Japan’s Top 25 are of this kind. That forced Google to change its simplistic design for the local market: Similar to Google China, for example, the Japanese version now contains tab links to other Google properties. It also features a keyword suggestion function in the searchbox.
Nippon-only initiatives include allowing users of Mixi (Japan’s biggest social network) to embed Google Maps on their blogs, partnering up with web company Hatena (which operates Japan’s most popular social bookmarking service) and launching “One Green Project”, a microsite dedicated to prevent global warming.
But these measures are just of the cosmetic kind. In fact, Google Japan keeps localization of its fixed Internet site at a relatively low level (it doesn’t transform into a Yahoo-like portal site, for example). Instead, the company aims at taking over the Japanese market with a double-staged approach: Avoid Yahoo and take over the (bigger) mobile web market first to win the fixed Internet later.
Mash-up Strategy of Collaboration, Experimentation and Circumvention
Japanese cell phone carriers can regulate which search engine their Internet service subscribers use by default. A good spot on the official, pre-installed starting menus is crucial to winning the mass market.
That’s why in January this year, Google Japan inked a deal with the country’s leading telecom company NTT Docomo, following a partnership with the country’s No. 2 carrier KDDI au that started in 2006 (both mobile partners also were among the first to join the Open Handset Alliance but have been rather close-mouthed about Android development ever since).
Google’s mobile strategy—in Japan and possibly elsewhere—depends on whether the 74 million Docomo and KDDI au Internet subscribers will embrace the Googlization of their mobile web life. (Compare that number to the 15 million subscribers that the No. 3 carrier, Yahoo partner SoftBank, serves in this country)
Both NT Docomo and KDDi au incorporated Google’s search engine directly into their default start menus, synthesizing content from both mobile and PC web sites (including the display of contextual text ads). Users can also easily access Google Calendar, Youtube and other Google services. Some Docomo handsets now come with pre-installed Google Maps Mobile. In addition, Google gets access to a massive amount of behavioral data in the world’s most advanced mobile web market. So it’s no wonder Google Japan says its partnerships have had “a huge impact” on business and traffic (although it refuses to disclose specific details).
The company additionally uses insular, cell phone-enamored Japan as an isolated testbed for unique mobile web applications and services to be deployed worldwide at a later stage.
It’s not only about search and ads: KDDI au, for example, started to offer a rebranded, Japan-only version of mobile Gmail (“au one mail”). The service is free of charge and can also be accessed through PCs, doubling as a Trojan horse for Google to attack Yahoo Mail’s premier position in Nippon’s email arena. Japan is also the world’s first country where users can integrate animated picture characters into their mobile Gmails (very important in Nippon) and use Google Mobile to get extra-fast info after earthquakes strike.
The holistic strategy the company pursues not only avoids a losing, long-term confrontation with Yahoo Japan but also strengthens the brand among Japanese web users and the mobile industry in general. The company also gains insights on how to improve and adjust its search technology for the Japanese and international markets.
One examplary finding John Lagerling, head of Google’s Wireless Business in the region, publicly shares: Contrary to popular belief, traffic on mobile Google doesn’t get a big bump in the morning (when millions of Japanese commute to work and school) but peaks from 6pm through bed-time at 1am. Lagerling expects usage trends like this to be repeated outside of Japan once flat-rate data plans and browser-enabled handsets prevail on a global level.
Google’s multilayered strategy certainly makes sense strategically: Japanese people usually demonstrate unwavering loyalty in established, popular uber-brands like Yahoo. Google still needs to prove a) its now beneficial partnerships will sustain, b) it can really take over Yahoo’s place through the backdoor, c) what role Android will play in the future and d) how much Google’s Japan-specific experiences can shape the mobile web on a global level.
Interesting I would not have thought that NTT Docomo would just let google be a default portal even…
dont NTT Docomo have their own ID scheme (email etc) already ?
regards
John Jones
http://www.johnjones.me.uk
Somehow, someway, Google will lock down the Japanese block. I’m very confident of that
http://www.mysp...atedndetermined
I don’t think so.It’s not just Y! but also the richest man in japan(owns a telecom giant in jpn) having a large stake in japan and that’s why won’t let the online domination get shifted to Google…Yup Google is a big threat for Y! but this time,i think Y! will manage to stay on top(atleast for the next 2-3 yrs)
How so? Google hasn’t locked up anything other than search.
Wow, I didn’t realize how much Yahoo! is completely owning Google there.
great!
It’s difficult even for Google to win a good brand name like Y! japan
Google is trying very hard to dominate the search market, but no matter what they do, they still lose to Yahoo in Japan.
http://www.KidT...ru.blogspot.com
What will Google do next?
TL – http://xrl.us/OMGNewTechNews
wow. google in japan is now available.
heres a hint to google…
Japanese like crowded webpages. They like as much information packed into a webpage as possible.
the famously simple google homepage is just not going to work. the additions are good but try filling the screen with links and doing a trial and see if the consumer likes it better
by this argument. if yahoo strips down thier page to something like ysearch.com, it should work?
I think Yahoo has better search results in Japanese. Google’s results are many times very lacking. I think they need to work on this. I also second anymouse, Japanese don’t like to type, having everything on one page allows them to just click everything.
Yeah right. Avoid Yahoo. Like Georgia avoids Russia. You call that a strategy? It’s a fact of life. They had no where else to go but mobile. Well, I guess they could have provided search in the robot market too, or something.
How is Live Search doing in Japan? No surprise that was not mentioned on TechCrunch.
Japan is pretty fast in developing mobile internet technology.
See the example of Japanese online music revolution at
http://www.lagu...oi.blogspot.com
http://www.amir...mi.blogspot.com
Starting of Ramadan
I don’t if it has been mentioned before but Google started last week an advertissement campaign in the trains/stations of Tokyo…. kind of funny to see. I took some (bad) pics : http://snurl.com/3lsdo
Toto, that blog post about the issue confining to japan and issue that will never come out of japan was really nice. We all enjoyed it, and now, please stop it!
TC, plz stop Toto, no more japan sayonara stories..
TC, love these posts. Please more Japan stories.
I don’t know if it has been mentioned before but Google started last week an advertissement campaign in the trains/stations of Tokyo…. kind of funny to see. I took some (bad) pics : http://snurl.com/3lsdo
sorry for double post…possible to delete first one?
Its a healthy competition indeed and benefited Japanese as a whole.
It’s difficult even for Google to win a good brand name like Y! japan
this is nice lesson for Google – if you won USA, it doesn’t mean you’ve won global, unless you’ve won one by one every country in the world.
Google South Africa taken to the Competition Commission for unfair play…
http://www.ente...p;ParentID=4269
What Google really need to do is start allowing bukakke on Japanese YouTube… that’ll show those Yahooligans…
(kidding btw)
google seems to engage itself into every aspect of the internet lately like they did with their virtual world Lively. As for the mobile web they will have a hard market in Japan if they want their share of the pie. Google’s dream to become the world’s dominator on just about every aspect of the web or future 3D web has yet to be seen.
I’ve read a couple of this writers article but I think the facts are always slightly inaccurate. I have no idea where he got the info that Yahoo Japan has 76% search query market share in JPN. It must be around 55% and Google has been really catching up on search share over the last three years. gradually but steadly.
Traffic through Wireless is changing trneds from USA to China & India or Russia. What will happen to US earnings?
Mobile is king in Japan so looks like a good approach.
Good google! I like…
thats great