As countries battle it out in the World Cup for the ultimate prize in soccer, we decided to launch a competition of our own. Over the next four weeks we’ll take a look at 16 companies that battle it out everyday in the business world. Our final match up is Google versus Alibaba. We want your take! Tell us your pick:
Born: 1998
International Headquarters: Mountain View, California
2013 Revenue: more than $59 billion
At its core Google is a search engine, its profits are embedded in those search-related ads. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin opposed ads at first hoping to keep their page uncluttered. It has since become cluttered with money, which allowed them to buy the companies that have given us the likes of YouTube, Google Earth, Google Maps and Android and that’s only a short list of Google’s gaggle.
Alibaba
Born: 1999
International Headquarters: Hangzhou, China
2013 Revenue: about $7.5 billion
One Alibaba service, Taobao, gives seven million smaller businesses a chance to sell direct to consumers. Sellers buy ad space, hoping to get noticed. Another service called t-mall is where companies like Nike, Gap and Apple pay Alibaba so they can sell online in China. Alibaba has also been expanding into mobile phones, mobile payment, banking and even TV and film production.
