Where's The Next Platform?

From BizWeek Mag. Desktop Search: It's Getting Serious.

If you ever want to get Microsoft's (MSFT ) dander up, just challenge the software giant on its home turf, the Windows operating system. Microsoft thinks of Windows as a "platform," the foundation on which the personal-computing industry is built.

Theres that platform term again.

MERE CONDUIT. These days, the folks in Redmond see few companies as more threatening than Google (GOOG ). It's the way Web surfers find information, relegating Windows to a mere conduit to connecting to Google. That's why Microsoft has been ginning up new bits of software to rival Google at every turn.

SMARTER SIFTING. Why are so many companies diving into the business? After all, consumers pay nothing for the desktop technology. But the search companies are betting that once consumers get comfortable with one service, they're likely to turn to it for Web searches as well, where advertising dollars continue to grow.

There are only so many Windows you can open, or files you can search to advertise on.

What's more, search technology is increasingly becoming a core computing function, much like e-mail and Web surfing.

The winner of the search wars will likely find itself in a better position to offer other key software and services, each of which could diminish the importance of Windows.

What will those key software/services be?
Will the winner recognize that the hand that feeds them is the advertiser?

The advertiser is struggling with this new medium (Web), losing the battle with TV and will soon have another medium to grasp.

The search guys are stuck in the electronic world, and advertisers/brands are in the physical world.

Isn't there a way the search guys and advertisers/brands can work hand in hand?