Rethinking Google: The Conversation That We Should Be Having in the U.S.

Posted by Jeff on March 14, 2010 · View Comments

On March 18th, 2010 in central London, Brits will be asking the question Has Google Got Too Big?

Google started life as a search engine, but it has now become so much more than that: it’s an economic powerhouse and even a political player which wields much influence in both the online and offline worlds. With its growing control over how material on the web is presented and accessed, and its influence over online advertising and its move into the world of online estate agencies, Google is no longer simply a gateway to the web – it is a major player in how the web works.

Source: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/eventindex/

… Google worship, and its flipside, Google angst, are abundant today. Across the media, creative industries, computing and telecomms, Google is recognised as the most transformative, if not the biggest, competitor. But the mythology isn’t always helpful. Inflating the myth, rather than conducting a cool appraisal of the reality, suggests that responsibility and blame lie elsewhere, that we think the mechanics of Google’s operation are beyond our comprehension. This hardly makes for good policy, or an informed democracy.

Source: We are all in Google’s crossfire

Google has had some bad publicity recently. It is in trouble with the European Union around monopoly issues. It has decided to pull out of China after the devil’s pact it made with the Chinese government to allow censorship of its search engine finally unravelled. It is widely accused of squeezing out competitors and moving on to other people’s business turf. In addition it has long been looked at suspiciously by privacy campaigners because it has recorded details of every single search by every one of its users from its inception (yes, sorry, even that one you did when you were really drunk that night in 1999). All in all, many people would say that Google’s famous corporate slogan – ‘don’t be evil’ – is wearing a bit thin.

Source: Google: a ‘frenemy’ of the internet generation

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Filed under Society · Tagged with culture, google, internet, Society

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http://www.facebook.com/gina.pera Gina Pera

Ha! Just talking about this over lunch with my husband.

When years ago I first heard their motto ("don't be evil"), my first thought was, "Methinks thou doth protest too much."
http://addmsorboth.blogspot.com/ Scott Hutson

Oh crap!! I was without a doubt using my brand new computer ….drunk in 1999. Oh well, I guess that pretty much spoils my plans of running for "Mayor of Hutsonville". Seriuosly speaking though, Google has been a useful tool for me. But the powers that be at the adminstration level are aware of the control they have on the World Wide Internet users,,,,,,and again I will say….Oh crap!!
http://intensedebate.com/people/jeffsaddmind Jeff

Google has been EXTRAORDINARILY useful and, even what we say about Microsoft, it too has been extraordinarily useful. But there is also a flip-side and that's the part we need to worry about. With extraordinary usefulness/power comes extraordinary responsibility.