Is Google is a steamrolling web despot on amphetamines?
Trust issues, privacy concerns, foul treatment of partners and Big Brother is shinning through the seams.
Hostile Takeover
With over three times the search market share of closest competitor Yahoo, Google is careening towards an ever expanding dark empire.
Paid search puts them even further ahead.
In comparison, Microsoft is starting to look like the gentler, softer monopoly of the past.
I Know what You Searched Last Summer
And the summer before that.
And:
- who your friends are
- what you discuss with them by email or chat (gmail, gtalk)
- what you look for in the dark of the night when nobody’s looking [sic]
- what sites you own
- what products you promote
- Generally, more about you than you can probably consciously recall
- What content you watch (youtube)
- What music you may be stealing
Without getting political, does the recent climate not warrant a question such as “what if all this falls into the wrong hands?”
And that’s only if you consider that Google’s hands aren’t them…
You Mean Nothing to Me
Google Slap anyone?
Yes, there are rules. But those rules could stand to be far clearer. Warnings could be issued.
Instead, Google is remarkably trigger happy when it comes to the little guy. They think nothing of disabling your account with only vague cryptic explanations given.
Rules are for Losers
If you’re big enough or popular enough, you can cloak at will (NY Times), spam like there’s no tomorrow (About dot com), dominate search results across the board (Wikipedia) and buy links from Google itself.
To the untrained eye, it may not be clear what’s happening.
That’s why it’s time to take a stand and say no.
No to Web Apartheid
Here’s how this works:
1) Copy this post or reproduce it on your blog in your words
2) Click “view source and grab the links below once they are added”
3) Make a comment with your post url
4) Get your link added here and every other site that participates
5) This site will be updated with new links, as should your page
Bonus points: when linking to Google, use the no follow attribute and / give them the anchor text they deserve: web apartheid.
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