Search Strategy: Will Amazon Take On Google with the Kindle Fire HD?

By emeadows
September 17, 2012

Google should be worried about Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD, suggests Business Insider: “Amazon’s Fire software is built using Google’s Android, but it cuts out Google search, which is how Google makes money.”
Most Android devices have a Google search bar on the device’s home screen, allowing the company to make money when people search for things to buy.
However, Android is an open system and can be altered. Amazon decided to eliminate the Google search bar on the Kindle Fire HD, opting instead to put in its own version of search that points customers directly to the Amazon store.
“Amazon now has a tablet that is cheaper than the Nexus 7 (the $159 Kindle Fire), as well as a tablet that is slightly more expensive than the Nexus 7, but appears to deliver more bang for the buck (the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD for $299),” notes BI. “Both are powered by Amazon’s variation of Android, which can easily just point directly to Amazon as a first option for any search query.”
“Amazon represents a two-fold problem for Google,” explains the article. “It’s eating up the most lucrative part of Google’s search business, while at the same time building a new rival operating system using Android, which Google invests heavily in.”

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