Domains vs. Search Engines – Is Google becoming Big Brother?
Google is not yet the evil controlling machines in “The Matrix”, Big Brother from Orwell’s “1984”, or the human destroying artificial intelligence in “The Terminator “. However Google and the other Search Engines would prefer you direct all your web activity through them. Why? So they can track, measure, and direct traffic in such a way that everybody is happy. They benefit from directing the traffic, because of the advertisements/paid listings they include with each search lookup. The more traffic they get, the stronger their negotiating power over the advertisers. Which sites you are directed to depends upon the search engine.
Google has made enhancements to their service that now anticipates what you might be looking for while you type in letters within the search box. This time saver does have its usefulness, but the sites you are directed to – are selected by Google. I don’t know about you, but I am not comfortable with the search engines controlling what I see and where I go on the Web. It is amazing the difference in results for the same search criteria in the three major US search engines: Google, Bing, and Yahoo. A handy little tool will illustrate this point. Go to http://www.langreiter.com/exec/yahoo-vs-google.html then search on the term “repair credit reports”. See how different their results are at Yahoo and Google? To compare Bing and Google, use the URL http://www.bing-vs-google.com/. My point is that these search engines are making decisions on where they think I want to go, or perhaps their decision is influenced by their advertisers, or perhaps it is controlled by shadows working beyond our view.
I have a twinge of paranoia running through me when I think about all the data running through Google, and the power that Google can exert over me, given my current Internet usage preferences. I hope the day never comes where the address bar of my browser is removed and replaced with a search bar. I will lose my ability to control my own destiny.
Before you say: “Google’s massive database has indexed everything within the known universe, so you can get to anything from them.
I say NOT TRUE! There are still places where only direct navigation can take you. Some websites are embedded with code asking the search engines not to index the content within the website. Most search engines honor this request, but again they are on the “honor system”. Some people and businesses have their websites behind firewalls to block out search engines and only provide access to select groups of users. There is website content that exists outside the universe of Google, so the need is still there for the address bar and direct navigation. The Search Engines are a valuable resource, but let’s keep them as a tool and not let them completely take over our navigation of the Internet. Mankind needs to draw the line against the machines.
Nice topic – respect !