Google Is Jörmungandr
September 23, 2014
In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr or the Midgard Serpent is a snake that surrounds Earth and eats its own tail. Jörmungandr constantly eats itself in an unending cycle. The group Google Will Eat Itself (GWEI) operates on a similar principle. GWEI describes their mission as:
“We generate money by serving Google text advertisements on a network of hidden Websites. With this money we automatically buy Google shares. We buy Google via their own advertisement! Google eats itself – but in the end “we” own it! By establishing this auto-cannibalistic model we deconstruct the new global advertisement mechanisms by rendering them into a surreal click-based economic model.”
Once they own all of the shares, GWEI plans to give them back to the users. It is an admirable and interesting concept to take control of the search giant. Feasibility is another story. GWEI’s Web site has not been updated since 2006. GWEI also only owns 819 Google shares and they have a nifty Google Ownership Counter that says it will take 202,345 years before they will own the company. This data was last tabulated in 2006, so it is unknown how long it will take in 2014.
GWEI has a long way to go before they own Google and their efforts are admirable, but maybe they have given up.
Whitney Grace, September 23, 2014
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