“Suck” might not be the right word here. But at least it conveys the right idea. They need major help. Google’s earnings prove that its competitors are falling behind, and although they claim to be “scrambling”, they’re not making much of an effort.

Only Google has a university outreach program that gives CS students free pizza.

The numbers will keep getting larger, and there’s no end in sight. Well, there is an end, of course, but it’s just not in sight yet. Competitors like Yahoo and Microsoft are not making as much progress as they should. They need to hire more. They don’t have the right kind of people. They have employees that sit around and waste money. Yahoo’s market share fell 8%, and MSN is behind them all, with a 13.2% market share.

eBay is another rival, but it doesn’t look like they’re doing a very good job either. There’s talk of GBuy, an online payment service. PayPal is ubiquitous now, but not for long. It’s eBay’s strongest asset, and they’re not leveraging it. The fees are too high, the service too complicated. Google might soon wipe them out with a product that costs less and is easier-to-use.

eBay has hope though. They’re trying to use Skye, eBay Express, and PayPal Mobile to do something interesting. Still, they’re not hiring enough. The company with the best minds will come out with the best products.