Microsoft’s Software Dominance is in question for the first time, and from the Search Engine giant Google. Microsoft was very late to realise that Google was actually a threat to their main line business. These two companies are now head on in many areas — Google Search vs Bing, MS Windows vs Android and Chrome OS, MS Office vs Google Docs etc. Both of these companies have been trying to dominate the Web, and Google is ahead of MS so far. The only other company that challenged the both was Yahoo.

Now there is another serious opponent to these two biggies keep fighting the Web Dominance War. Facebook has finally stand up to fill the gap once occupied by Yahoo. Lastest acquisition of FriendFeed is one progressive step towards the journey.

FriendFeed’s real time search capability will be a great addition to the social Media giant, and that is believed to challenge Google’s Search Dominance. BBC has a report on this line. If realized nicely and brought to the public, Facebook’s search capability will hit both Microsoft and Google hard.

Microsoft has recently signed a deal with Yahoo to fight Google on Search; Twitter too is coming along the Search path and has recently modified its home page to look like a Search Engine.

Facebook’s journey started from Harvard University. According to wiki:

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with fellow computer science major students and his roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes while he was a student at Harvard University. Website membership was initially limited to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It later expanded further to include any university student, then high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The website currently has more than 250 million active users worldwide

The company had limited capability and restricted vision till they got investment from Microsoft. The deal happened 2 years before when Facebook sold a 1.6% stake to Microsoft for $240m. Analysts believe that the investment was done by Microsoft to hinder the growth of Google’s Orkut, which was the fastest growing Social Network then. The market valuation of Facebook was far too low.

On May 2009 there can a news, Facebook has sold a 1.96% stake for $200m (£126m) to a Russian internet firm, a move that values the social networking website at $10bn.

“This investment demonstrates Facebook’s ongoing success at creating a global network for people to share and connect,” added Mr Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, in reference to the stake sell.

By this time,Facebook was already leading Social Network in English Speaking mass and was eyeing the Russian Market. Their vision of Web Dominance started materializing.

Yahoo and many other internet companies could never challenge Google in Web for a reason. They could not moneytise their web traffic. But Facebook seems to have oversome that hurdle too. According to a news in Financial Times, more than 80% of advertisers are now using Facebook to promote their brand.

Now comes the news of FriendFeed Acuisition! Wow. Things turn interesting now. Google and Microsoft are seriously threatened; and the main player to grow this opponent is Microsoft itself. It might take some time, but we may realise that – “Zuke does the same to Bill Gates, What Gates did to Steve Jobs.” Essentially winning your guru.

The WAR has just begun.