As internet giants Google and Microsoft jockey for dominance in the realm of web-based services, institutions of higher learning have benefited from this competition in the form of free services. Google so far leads Microsoft by a wide margin: roughly 2000 institutions worldwide have outsourced some aspect of their web services (generally email) to Google since 2006. This September, Google will be touring the country in an environmentally-friendly bus as part of the aptly-named “App to School” tour. The tour aims to promote Google’s portfolio of web-based applications as well as solicit feedback from student end-users.

 While Microsoft retains slipping dominance in the student operating system market, it has recently revamped the front-end on its Windows Live services. In doing so, they plan to draw users away from Google’s popular suite of online services—or at least create a competitive alternative to some of Google’s services. This may prove difficult, as Google’s market penetration is substantially greater in higher education thanks to its popular Google Docs service. Google Docs is an online office suite that allows multiple users to collaborate on a single text document or spreadsheet, or simply allows instructors to make comments on works-in-progress. While not quite as feature-rich as Microsoft Office, the browser-based platform is substantially more convenient—and free.

Email, however, has been the driving force behind Google’s expansion into the classroom. In the past, universities spent sizeable amounts of money—in the hundreds of thousands—managing and maintaining their email systems. As such, Google’s offer to host student email services has proved too appealing to resist for many universities. The service, which is ad-free as well, has proved popular among college administrations trying to cut back on operating expenses.

While this growth looks encouraging for Google, it seems that Microsoft remains the winner from a business perspective—monetizing these free services will likely prove impossible for Google. Especially given the 24/7 support Google offers to students and faculty using its university services, the cost of expanding their market share seems to outweigh the benefits in the long run. Moreover, consumers accustomed to free web services will likely refuse to pay for them once they graduate—or simply turn to competitors still trying to attract new users by offering competing services for free.

Tags: Learning Technologies, Online Education