Is Google getting too big for the good of the internet?
There’s a lot of anxiety/anger/fear about Rupert Murdoch’s proposed takeover of BSkyB. Daily, commentators pour forth to point out that that would mean that he would own The Times, The Sun, The News of the World, Sky News, MySpace, BSkyB, Fox News and Australia. Which is an awful lot of influence for one man to have.
Now because everyone’s impeccably right-on these days, Murdoch’s right-wing politics mean that this gives us the screaming heebie-jeebies. But meanwhile, away from the traditional media, Google has snaffled up YouTube, Blogger, Urchin, Doubleclick, Feedburner and more besides – either directly or more tangentially (for example, Google have a 5% stake in AOL. And AOL just bought the Huffington Post).
And now, according to speculation in the press, Twitter is the next target for acquisition.
Is it time for a little pause for thought here? If Google were to acquire Twitter (and let’s face it, they’ve got the spare cash on the kitchen table, along with the keys to a totally sweet Lamborghini or two) they would own:
- The internet’s biggest index of content
- The internet’s biggest search engine
- The largest online text ads program
- The largest online display ads program
- The biggest source of video content
- The biggest source of traffic and data analysis for millions of websites
- The third biggest email provider
- The only player in the real time sphere
- The second biggest blogging platform
- Most of the traffic that most internet businesses rely on
- The biggest mapping software
- The 43rd largest social networking site in the Ukraine.
And to all that, you can add the vast spool of user data, business information, phone numbers and DNA that Google have been squirrelling away every time you search for a new pair of trousers, pound of mince or Russian amputee bride.
20 years ago, Bill Gates thought the world wide web was too open and free and beyond his control. That his vision of an alternative, closed-system “Microsoft web” failed still rises alternative chuckles at his naivety and contempt for his anti-competitive ideas. And yet here we are, supine to Google as they blithely buy the internet – blinded by the whole “do no evil” thing, which is about as deep as the copywriting on Innocent smoothies, when you think about it.
Consolidation is, according to the gospel of business evolution, a great and natural thing – leading to ever greated efficiency and niceness. Yet on the other hand, it gave us British Leyland, AOL’s “takeover” of Time Warner, GM and the banking crisis. And Google are a proper business, with terms and conditions and everything. Run afoul their “quality guidelines” and bing! You’re off the internet, buddy.
The point is not that Google are inherently bad, but that when things get “too big to fail” then sense has left the room. It puts entire infrastructures and industries at risk. Right now, it looks like we’re heading for an unholy face-off between Murdoch, Microsoft and Google (all them fluttering their eyelashes at Zuckerberg) for, well… the future, basically.
I kind of hope nobody wins.
12 Comments
Eamon Collins - http://www.cybercom.ie
Another good post Paul, always funny and thought-provoking!
With Google, it could be case though of what have the Romans ever done for us? Rather than from the perspective of Google being the domineering force of the internet, I prefer to look instead at the relentless innovation and excellence of their products they have given us. From Analytics to Maps to indexing and serving a huge amount of content online, to finding videos of kittens riding turtles around sitting rooms, theyve given a lot more good than evil.
Guess, I’m a little biased though as they have given me a career.
Paul Carpenter - http://www.itsafamilything.co.uk
Hi Eamon – funny you should mention the Monty Python thing. It’s definitely the best counter argument 🙂
EssexSEO - http://www.essexseo.co.uk
Maybe Google are planning on taking over the world?
H
Good point – but don’t knock those smoothies, they’re mighty tasty!
Phil
No
Paul Carpenter - http://www.itsafamilything.co.uk
Thanks Phil. I’ll sleep easier tonight.
Phil
Glad I could help!
Mike Glover - http://www.click-finders.com/blog
Really….there is little to worry about here. If they do become “To Bigg”, our government will simply step in, break it into a thousands pieces just like they did to Microsoft.
Is Google growing to bigg? Do they control too much? I am not really sure. I do know they DOMINATE the search world right now. I also hate to see the any company that is built by hard work and ingenuity get shredded for being successful.
Maybe regulation is in order before dessimation ! Just my two cents….
Jeremy - http://www.indexwebmarketing.com
My 2 cents, as long as the Internet remains open there will be innovations to prevent such Google monopolies.
Gina
Google did just overthrow the leader of a foreign nation…by
1. Acquring a company on 2/25/2011
2. Within three days, develop a communication application to circumvent that government’s communication system
3. Had an Executive on the ground in that country managing organization of protestors against the government
4. Using communication to assist a faction of the population to organize to overthrow the government.
Amazing…and the claim it was all “coincidence.” Anyone believe that?
Gina
Ooops, they claimed to have acquired the company on 1/25/2011, (1/26/2011 in Egypt) the day the demonstrations in Egypt began…and had their application launched within three days of acquiring a major organization! Their executive was arrested on the lst of February…one week later and on the exact date Google formally announced their application was in use in Egypt! Incredible coincidences, how could they have known their executive was on the ground? Poor Google!
Nigel Burke - http://nigelburke.com
Who said money can’t buy anything? Whenever Google sees a threat, they can use some of their $32 billion dollars to buy them out. A company with so much money is going to be around for many years to come.
They have pretty much conquered the search engine market, part of their initial mission so what to they do now? Satisfy their shareholders and try and make more money and expand into more markets.
At least they have some competition in most markets they are in and if users don’t like Google, people will look at using these alternatives. I think Google is on a fine line when they are such leaders in many fields.
Now they have their own browser and OS, are we going to see more control?