Is Google too powerful?

[Slinky Bender]

My point in posting those links, is that they don't actually have anything to do with the content on the web sites they call up. .

Oh, and just in case nobody noticed: as soon as Google went into negotiations to buy YouTube, all of a sudden all these YouTube videos - many/most of which had VERY little relevance - started showing up at top postions in the natural search section.

 

[Slinky Bender]

But let's do a simple experiment (which I've done many, many time in the last year). Go to Google search, and so a fairly specific search wher you know the answer already, and see what comes up. And see how far down the list you have to go to find what you asked for. because that's what Google is saying that they give you, and anyone who has actually tested that hypothesis lately will know that it is very, very far from the truth.

 

[Slinky Bender]

Also, blogs have WAYYYYYYY too much infleunce on Google search results. As a result, youve got guys (know in the industry as "Black Hats") who put up what are technically blogs, but are really just toplists, linkdumps, ad farms, etc. and show up way high in the natural search results, but are really NOTHING information wise.

 

[Slinky Bender]

Just to let people know where I'm coming from: I spend 6 figures on Google advertsing for several years, so I'm very aware of their business practices and how they really do things.

 

[fuckingahole]

Simply put, YES, Google is way to powerful. My business is deeply related to computers and the internet.. I could write a million pages on this topic. Google needs a competitor... 7 years ago Yahoo gave them a run.. competition is good.

 

[celtic knight]

I really have no idea if Google is too powerful. I do believe when the economy is finally straightened out (5 or 10 years from now) the government should do what it takes to make sure that no company of any kind can ever again become too big to be allowed to fail. Call this socialism if you will. The government needs to fix things so failure can again be a chance to learn.

 

[xcalibur]

in case if anyone hasn't noticed yet Google is coming up with a new browser called Google Chrome it's still in beta.


http://www.google.com/chrome

Actually when they came up with this new browser they fuked up the TOS of chrome. This is how initially the TOS were written.

Chrome's TOS:
"By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services. This license is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the services and may be revoked for certain services as defined in the additional terms of those services." ( Excuse me..come again!))

But after many complaints they changed and issued an apology

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/update-to-google-chromes-terms-of.html

 

[xcalibur]

Here is the full privacy policy of the Google

Privacy Overview
Scope
This statement applies to Google’s products, services and websites worldwide (collectively, Google’s “services”).

Google collects personal information when you register for a Google service or otherwise voluntarily provide such information. We may combine personal information collected from you with information from other Google services or third parties to provide a better user experience, including customizing content for you.
Google uses cookies and other technologies to enhance your online experience and to learn about how you use Google services in order to improve the quality of our services.
Google’s servers automatically record information when you visit our website or use some of our products, including the URL, IP address, browser type and language, and the date and time of your request.
Read more in the full privacy policy.
Uses
We may use personal information to provide the services you’ve requested, including services that display customized content and advertising.
We may also use personal information for auditing, research and analysis to operate and improve Google technologies and services.
We may share aggregated non-personal information with third parties outside of Google.
When we use third parties to assist us in processing your personal information, we require that they comply with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
We may also share information with third parties in limited circumstances, including when complying with legal process, preventing fraud or imminent harm, and ensuring the security of our network and services.
Google processes personal information on our servers in the United States of America and in other countries. In some cases, we process personal information on a server outside your own country.
Read more in the full privacy policy.
Your choices
We offer you choices when we ask for personal information, whenever reasonably possible. You can find more information about your choices in the privacy notices or FAQs for specific services.
You may decline to provide personal information to us and/or refuse cookies in your browser, although some of our features or services may not function properly as a result.
We make good faith efforts to provide you access to your personal information upon request and to let you correct such data if it is inaccurate and delete it, when reasonably possible.
Read more in the full privacy policy.

 

[elmo16]

I’m using Chrome right now. When you first install it, it offers to import all your Firefox or IE 7 bookmarks, cookies, etc. It’s not a full featured browser, has no add-ons, extensions or themes, but it’s by far faster than any other browser, has a clean, modern interface and runs perfectly. It makes Firefox and Opera (don’t even mention IE) seem slow and bloated.

 

[franca]

I'd say the top result is pretty relevant, wouldn't you?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=slinky+bender&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

 

[Retoxicate]

Google said I should disregard the OP.

 

[Slinky Bender]

Actually.... not so much. You're taking a VERY specific and so "out there" term.... and look at the sponsored search results... especially the second one (and these are what Google is charging their advertisers for). but you unknowingly make a point: I've spent way too many hours getting links to my IRL identity removed simply because someone post responses to stupid blogs under that handle and links them to my IRL identity.... and that's all it takes for Google to rank THOSE POSTS as like the first 15 entries. That's one of te ways I found out how overweighted blog post.. or even just blank or stupid nonsensical blather responses to blog posts.. get hugely weighted by Google.

I did an experiment with another handle I use and all it took was 4 responses to blog posts linked to that handle to get in the top 5 of Google!!!!!!! Just goes to show how easily Google can be used to cause mischeif.

 

[franca]

Did my lame joke really go over your head?

 

[franca]

Nice ham hock recipe, BTW.

 

[Ozzy]

Oh, and just in case nobody noticed: as soon as Google went into negotiations to buy YouTube, all of a sudden all these YouTube videos - many/most of which had VERY little relevance - started showing up at top postions in the natural search section.

Speaking of which...

If Google were ever hauled into court in a class action by everyone with copyrighted videos on YouTube that Google is posting without written permission nor paying royalties.... they could as strong and solvent as they are... end up in a scrap heap with a judge/jury that obeys the letter of the law when it comes to copyright infringement.

 

[elmo16]

I'd say the top result is pretty relevant, wouldn't you?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=slinky+bender&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

Someone Googled the screen name of a frequent poster on ***, and they came up with his real name, address and home phone number. I would advise anyone posting anything or any where you would rather not have know, exercise some caution.
I also Googled the phone number of a well know provider, I got her real name, her Visa status, her HIV status, her address in her home country, her children’s names and ages, her mother’s name and address and her true age. Google, like big brother, is watching. Be careful.

 

[Monk]

Speaking of which...

If Google were ever hauled into court in a class action by everyone with copyrighted videos on YouTube that Google is posting without written permission nor paying royalties.... they could as strong and solvent as they are... end up in a scrap heap with a judge/jury that obeys the letter of the law when it comes to copyright infringement.

Was this rhetorical, or did you not know about the Viacom/Google court case:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/technology/14viacom.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=technology

 

[franca]

Someone Googled the screen name of a frequent poster on ***, and they came up with his real name, address and home phone number. I would advise anyone posting anything or any where you would rather not have know, exercise some caution.
I also Googled the phone number of a well know provider, I got her real name, her Visa status, her HIV status, her address in her home country, her children’s names and ages, her mother’s name and address and her true age. Google, like big brother, is watching. Be careful.

Sounds to me like somebody else is watching. How the hell did all that information get published on these web sites to begin with? Unless Google owns the web site this stuff is published on, they aren't the ones responsible for it being on the World Wide Web.

 

[franca]

No, it's not.

What am I missing here? Google sends out their crawl-bots to locate web pages. Google indexes them on their servers. User enters search terms in the search field. Google searches web pages from their servers (using their presumably corrupt algorithms which they will never reveal, since it's proprietary information) and gives the user a list of results (which may or may not be relevant).

I'm not saying that the list of results isn't crap. I know a lot of it is crap.

 

[elmo16]

Sounds to me like somebody else is watching. How the hell did all that information get published on these web sites to begin with? Unless Google owns the web site this stuff is published on, they aren't the ones responsible for it being on the World Wide Web.

If you really try, it's not hard to link names and/or phone numbers across millions of bot crawls. Google doesn't own the web, they just own all the information on the web, how?they just spend a huge amount of time and computer power gathering a huge amount of data, (they crawl through complete reviews, articles and stories) sifting through it and automatically linking key data fields like phone numbers, unique phrases, names, etc.

If you are posting on a board like UG, use a screen name that is unique to your UG postings. If you are a provider, or doing something illegal, don't use your regular home phone number or your own home or apartment for your illegal activity.