Google's Impact on the Internet

Kierkegaard writes "The Globe & Mail and Fortune Magazine both wrote a piece on Google, arguably one of the most important companies in the world, and its influence and impact on the Internet. In particular, they mention the effects of Google's recent new services, like Blogger and Maps, as well as their take on how Google threatens the Microsoft Corporation. "If Sergey and Larry stick to their corporate mantra -- Don't be evil -- and are able to stem degeneration into the typically corrupt corporate ethos, who knows, they may just succeed in assuming the fair and honourable dominion over the world's information they so naively set out to achieve eight years ago in their garage.""

Comments

Google important?

[Threni]

If they weren't around I'd just be using Yahoo or whatever, and having less unused space in my various free web-based email accounts.

Re:Google important?

[thirteenVA]

That's a rather cynical view. How could you possibly try to downplay the impact of Google by attempting to paint them as yet another search engine and email provider.

Without Google I'd have lost hours searching through wads of irrelevant and/or paid listings in yahoo or MSN.

Without Google I'd have been lost when trying to convert teaspoons to tablespoons or quarts to liters.

Without Google, we'd be lost in a sea of paid advertisements lurking as 'relevant articles'.

Only recently have I found it more difficult to pull good results from google, but even so, their usefulness is unparalleled. Google maps is easily the best web-based mapping application. Gmail leaves other mail providers in the dust (and gives free POP access, which is rare) Google local is incredibly useful for finding nearby shops and restaurants.

I can no longer imagine a world without Google, and can only laugh at your attempt to downplay their importance in todays society.

Re:Google important?

[centron]

Yeah, just like if Firefox weren't around you'd just use IE, and if computers weren't around you'd just use a pen and paper, right?

Google = "The Internet"

[pete19]

I tend to find that especially amongst "non-geeks", Google IS the internet. Could they have much more of an impact than that?

Re:Google = "The Internet"

[0x461FAB0BD7D2]

I tend to find that especially amongst "non-geeks", IE is the interweb. Which is worse?

Perhaps...

[gandell]

Consider this. Yahoo, MSN, and many others have begun scrambling to provide the same services that Google has right now. Toolbars, Desktop Search apps, and even increased space in your email accounts. Like it or not, Google has changed the face of the search industry. Will they keep their dominance? It depends on how the technology evolves. I've not seen any of the other internet based companies have the same impact. I'd say that makes Google pretty important.

Google a threat?

[gtoomey]

Google revenue: 3 Billion. Microsoft Revenue: 38 Billion

Unless Google pulls a rabbit out of a hat (like a new operating system), I cant see this changing any time soon.

Stay good, Google! Stay good!

[FhnuZoag]

Yeah. So they think that goodness will triumph. Fat chance. The Dark Side always wins. Power corrupts. No matter what pledges are made, there is nothing concrete that will keep google from becoming 'evil'. After all, everyone's perception of evil changes, and who knows what would happen if Google starts thinking for people, deciding for its customers what it's best interests are? The online community is getting too reliant on google. We need competition. We need alternatives. If one group be allowed to dominate, it needs to be one with openness and non-profitness written into its being. And google does not have that.

Re:What about the not-so-good things?

[oneiros27]

You can either bring no service, or service in compliance with the rules and regulations of the locations that you are providing the service.

Which one is more evil? Refusing to provide your service to a population that could otherwise benefit from it, even in its reduced capacity, or making it available, even if you might not be happy with the terms you're required to comply with?

The correct answer -- neither. Neither one is inherently evil. The first one is petty and immature, and the second one can be construed as greedy without knowing all of the details.

ABSOLUTELY they are important

[gosand]

If they weren't around I'd just be using Yahoo or whatever, and having less unused space in my various free web-based email accounts.

If Google wasn't around, I would be using

Yahoo or whatever for my search engine.

I'd probably still be using Mapquest for maps (and cursing it).

I don't know if I'd be able to search newsgroups the way I do. Would DejaNews still be around?

I guess I'd have to use local.yahoo.com instead of local.google.com to find things in my area.

Image searching - well, I'd be out of luck.

I'd just have to figure out how to do some conversions (like celcius to fahrenheit)

And I don't even use all of Google's features. They are important, because they changed the game. They innovated, in a very simple way (to the end user). Google maps is awesome, but up until Google did it, Mapquest was "good enough". That is why they are important, because they seem to do the things they do VERY well. It would be scary to companies if Google decided to enter their area of expertise.