Who Does Google Compete With?

Who does Google compete with, strategically? Over the years, many names have been discussed, including Yahoo, Microsoft or Apple. Google sometimes is said to be unable to compete with some others, such as Facebook. But increasingly, the name that appears is "Amazon." 

So it is that Google has begun testing a same-day delivery service with retailers, a move that obviously will be seen as part of a wider head to head competition with Amazon in the e-commerce space, as part of Google Shopping Express.

For a firm historically associated with an advertising revenue base, that might sound odd. But lots of application providers and some service providers now see "mobile commerce" as the next big revenue frontier, with angles ranging from promotion to payments to couponing and payments, as well as a broader "product sales" function. 

That shift might see Goolge Shopping Express evolve in the direction of becoming a full marketplace, more like Amazon.