Google and Short Cuts
March 23, 2011
Even in this economic climate, it certainly isn’t everyday a company is compared to Julius Caesar. In “My Message to Google: Stop Cheating” the author examines the shadiness engulfing the search giant’s artificial algorithm and the effects ushered to the online community. The European Commission (EC) as well as varied members of academia are arming themselves with facts and finally mounting a case against the “omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent” Google.
This article states the company controls 70% of the global online search market. As one could imagine, with a reach so extensive manipulation is nearly inevitable. The research points to Google’s ability and seeming penchant to run competitors out of business by burying them in search results and making compatibility with popular Google products impossible. At the same time, Google props up its own products, consistently endorsing links from Google Maps, Google Finance and YouTube (to name a few).
The author’s message to Google is clear: “Stop cheating. Transform your search engine from a murky algorithm that sometimes benefits your own corporate interests into a transparently neutral guide that benefits both the consumers and the all the companies in our knowledge economy.”
Is the old adage titling these words true? What happens when the offender in question is a multi-billion dollar, international conglomerate? Luckily there is hope in a growing hole in Google’s power structure: the lack of social media. One rival in particular, namely the unattainable Facebook, is threatening the company’s online reign. So between the Facebook battle and the numerous offensives by disgruntled companies and suspicious industry professionals, Google may have to straighten out in order to not lose the entire kingdom. The Ides of March approach. We’ll see what happens.
Sarah Rogers, March 23, 2011
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[…] Google and Short Cuts Beyond Search: Even in this economic climate, it certainly isn’t everyday a company is compared to Julius Caesar. In My Message to Google: Stop Cheating the author examines the shadiness engulfing the search giant’s artificial algorithm and the effects ushered to the online community. The European Commission (EC) as well as varied members of academia are arming themselves with facts and finally mounting a case against the “omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent” Google. […]