After Bing’s Maps Highlights, Cowan Gives Google (GOOG) “Outperform” Uptick

In its latest report, Cowen and Company graded Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) to “Outperform” category. This was after Bing’s announcement on major upgrades in its Bing Maps. Bing belongs to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Cowen’s analysts Jim Friedland and Kevin Kopelman were clearly bullish about Google. Their analysis points out that Google has a significant lead in the navigation market. As more people are demanding smart phones with navigational features built in, these two analysts feel that Google will enjoy greater lead over its competitors – Microsoft and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).

The report by Cowen says that it is difficult to replicate the proprietary features of Google Maps. Cowen’s report also indicates that Google may spend 5% of its R&D budget to do more R&D on Google Maps.