Is Google Too Powerful?

Is Google Too Powerful?.This is an article published in BusinessWeek, and the obvious answer has surely got to be 'Duh!' On a more thoughtful note, it's a good read, and does make a lot of the points that various other people have already been making. I don't think there's any doubt that Google IS very powerful, and I believe that's detrimental for everyone - Google included. It makes them sloppy leading to a poorer service but equally it does mean that other search engines can work hard in other areas and produce products, services and resources that are better than anything can manage.

Of course I use Google just as the rest of us do, but really only for the quick and dirty searches. Anything that requires more thought and sophistication, then I'm off to something that can do the job rather better!

Comments

[Brian Kelly]

Is Google too powerful? In political and sporting contexts we could ask ourselves if the US is too powerful or if Manchester United and Chelsea are two powerful? And in the desktop PC market, is Microsoft too powerful? The answer, I suspect most people would agree with, would be in the affirmative. However this, I would argue, is an inevitable consequence of cultural, economic and social pressures. If Microsoft wasn't the leading player in the software market, some other company would be - indeed Microsoft got to their position of dominance by usurping IBM and subsequently outmanouvering potential competitors such as Apple, Borland, etc. The issue isn't about the market leaders, but the environment in which they operate, I would argue.

Brian