Steve Rubel calls it right on Google: “All your Ads belong to us“.
Its been said before, but I’ll say it again: when will Governments start intervening in Google’s growth? How much of the online world will Google dominate before Government says enough is enough, this is anti-competitive, monopoly behaviour? Sure, the argument against is that you can’t regulate people’s behaviour, there is alternatives to Google in all the markets in which they compete/ dominate/ control, but every day, every month, every year Google gets bigger and bigger, more and more dominant and in control: Google + DoubleClick equals a massive share of the online advertising market. Search may not be all Google in the US, but Google has in excess of 80% market share in other countries, including Australia. Is Google close to becoming the Standard Oil or the AT&T of our times? remember that they also own a big chunk of internet backbone in the US as well. Time will tell I guess, but I’ll predict that if Governments aren’t taking a look at Google now, they soon will be.
Other than the US government, Google has amassed more behavioural data on people’s habits than any other organization on the planet. My guess is, as long as that data is available when the powers that be need it, G will get to go about it’s business as it has been. It has too much at stake right now to be uncooperative anyway.
Duncan, you don’t get it. As long as Google cooperates with the NSA and the CIA and the DOJ and Homeland Security and the RNC they won’t be shut down (and I’m EU companies, et al are beating down the door to get data streams). As long as they keep a tapped line open to these security groups they won’t be shut down. Thoughts on my personal blog.
Google, Microsft and Yahoo won’t allow me to advertise my website, http://www.chinaisevil.com, IN THE US, because it is critical of Communist China. Google has also blocked my website from its search results for “China.”
Chris Langdon, qiology@aol.com