Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) celebrated another great year in 2007. Despite the challenges of contested acquisitions, a distant second-place finish in China to Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU), and occasional divergences from its "do no evil" mantra, Google once more treated its investors to market-thumping returns. But how will the search giant fare in 2008 -- and beyond?
Google has done a masterful job of keeping its biggest competitors, Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), away. But what if the future of scouring the Web belongs to hungrier upstarts like Digg, Wikipedia, or IAC/InterActiveCorp's (Nasdaq: IACI) Ask.com? What if hardware makers like Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) or Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) play a bigger part in directing the online experience?
Is Google susceptible? Not all Fools agree.
Anders Bylund is our bull this week, while I'm stepping in as the bearish devil's advocate. Who's right? Read on and decide for yourself.
Duel on!
