Web Search–Google
Source: Slate
Google A Monopoly (Google-Opoly)? No Way!
Search King, a search optimization firm is suing Google. I completely agree with the author of this article that the lawsuit is a joke and waste of time. The article goes on to mention a few published discussions about how Google might be a sorta/kinda monopoly and in need of regulation. It’s not a monopoly and not in need of regulation. Yes, it’s the leader and yes it’s a good product but other excellent and rapidly improving web search engines are out there. Actually, even if Google is your engine of choice you would still be doing yourself a favor by using or at least keeping current with what’s going on with other engines. As I’ve said on many occasions, Google is not only a strong search resource but their marketing team is at the top of the list. Trying to market other search tools these days is a massive challenge and along with the “creature of habit” factor, this is where I think the monopoly ideas comes from. For many people, Google EQUALS web search and for others it also is equal to all of the information in the World. As Barbara Quint points out, Google has become a verb. I recently saw a business magazine (from a well known publisher) calling it “all knowing”. This magazine’s rankings of companies were determined in part by how many times the companies name appeared in Google. By the way, this marketing issue is also a CHALLENGE for traditional information vendors who might not consider general web engines. In many cases they’re also in competition with Google. Not for the eyes of the information professional but for usage by the end user. Why do I need to go to a (insert vendor name here) database when can get “something” from Google? I’ve heard this is a concern in all types of libraries and schools. When you think about all of the data/information in “traditional” electronic databases, toss in pages on the web but not in the Google index, and then add something as low tech as books, the Google’s monopoly is non-existent. For the advertiser, sure you want your ad to reach as many people as possible but don’t blame Google for being successful.
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(Update, 2/2/03) From the Boston Globe, “How the Internet search engine Google is changing what we can find out about one another – and raising questions about whether we should”. What if Google disappeared today? Would all of this information become unavailable to the masses? The answer is now. True, the Google Groups archive would be gone but in terms of open web content, it would still be available elsewhere. I think this article does a disservice by making it seem that getting your material out of the Google database will then make it unavailable to the public. Wrong. You’ll still need to contact AllTheWeb, Teoma, Inktomi, AltaVista, Gigablast and many others.

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