Comments on: Do we all work for Google now?

Google increasingly controls the Web, but as much because of our lack of competitive vigor than due to its brilliance.

[antisocialnetworker]

"aggregate social Web applications so that I don't have to trip all over the Web checking what so-and-so is doing on Facebook, then sprinting back to LinkedIn to help someone else on a job search."

Aggregation services... what a love hate relationship.
Google News is great for this. It often leads me to concise articles from respected sources about current news. Sometimes it leads me to mindless sedation like this article.

It's downright lazy to link to other websites, blogs, and random quips in your so inconsequential commentary. You end up forming no complete thoughts, and send the user down an endless bunny trail of linked documents full of... more of the same banter. I count 11 links where you pawn off

How about providing us with a complete thought written as it came from your mind today? Do us all a favor - STOP aggregating and write a real editorial or news story.

bleh. I think I'll go buy a real, physical, newspaper

[Roinator]

Anti-social networker. Enough said. :P

Ha ha, ok, I'll say a bit more.

I agree that some of the thoughts in this guy's blogs are not pursued in depth, but they serve their purpose. I like these blogs primarily because they give a brief explanation of the situation, and offer an opinion or two. What are you expecting, a detailed analysis of the future of the Internet? That is ridiculous.

[antisocialnetworker]

Roinator, your argument is valid.. but the fact still remains that I was led here by an aggregate news source. NEWS. This guy doesn't claim to be a news provider, he's a blogger. No research, no depth.. just him standing on a soapbox. I'm not expecting pulitzer material or the next great american novel.

But why is he advertising the page as news to google? If I'm the only one who has a problem with this then I guess my forum name is quite appropriate. I think we all can agree that News != Blog. Here we see a blogger misusing a news aggregation service to gain hits for his soapbox editorials.

For the same reason you like blogs - I hate em. Mostly fluff, no substance.

Back to my boss Google to find some real news hopefully...

[bystndr]

You used GOOGLE like 30 times .. That's awesome! I totally got here from Google news .. that rocks!

[Maarek Stele]

In order for that to happen. Google would need to copy Amazon and start their own Mechanical Turk. so that people can make pennies an hour assisting on building Google's Turk. Eventually they'll have their own Skynet... anyone else watch "The Sarah Connor Chronicles"?

[dylerl]

I think Google is awesome, I don't know who these people are who mistrust google but I have all my clients on google apps getting all their email through that, it is the greatest thing since sliced wonder bread!!! works like a charm and I have complete trust in google. Why would people not trust them, would these same people not use any hosted email solution then because of their mistrust of companies, then you dont use comcast, verizon, ATT, or the multitude of hosted exchange solutions, why do you trust all of these people with your email, contacts and other data and not trust google, this does not make any sense to me whatsoever, I bet that all these people who do not trust google get their email through a hosted provider so what is the difference?

[JasonCe]

Because none of those hosted providers or other companies you mentioned above are as big or as powerful as Google. If they did anything wrong to you, you could just leave. You can't "leave" Google because they started controlling the web.

Look at what they did to Yahoo. They tricked Yahoo that they would do a search deal just to give them a false hope so that they would not sell to Microsoft, their only competitor now. And then they broke the deal when Microsoft pulled their offer (those anti-trust claims are just a cover, as if they did not now they would face those in day 1). Result? Yahoo is now in a much worse condition, fired thousands of people. Did Google think about those people when they played with Yahoo? No, they only cared about their market share.

And besides, there is nothing from Google that actually works, except Search.

[loose_screw]

@JasonCe: Your post is full of lies. Nothing from Google actually works? What the h*ll are you smoking?

The reason that Yahoo and M$ failed is because they failed to compete, as this article cites. It has nothing to do with Google.

[monkeyfun14]

@JasonCE


"If they did anything wrong to you, you could just leave. You can't "leave" Google because they started controlling the web. "

If im not mistaken Google's datacenters are located inside the US if Google were to do anything wrong the US Government could shut them down quite quickly.

[ofmyony]

@JasonCe
Great Google services. Gmail, Google Talk, Google Finance, Google Calendar, Picasa, You Tube, Google Reader, Google Search, IGoogle, Chrome, Android, Goog 411, and soon Google Voice.

The really great thing about all these services is that they are integrated and work together.

The awesome thing about Google services, their open source and free. Are you kidding me JasonCe

[pentest]

You do realize that Google uses information from all its software for marketing purposes don't you? Blind fools like you and your clients deserve what is coming.

I run my own mail server, thank you very much.

[pentest]

YouTube was bought by Google, they didn't develop it.

Gmail, docs, desktop, picasa, etc, etc, are all third rate apps and only exist to collect information from you(ie it is spyware).

Wake up people!

[loose_screw]

You nailed it on the head. The real question is, why can't Yahoo and Microsoft compete? Don't tell me it's because they lack the resources. I think it's because they're inefficient and unwilling to change their business models to seriously give Google a run for its money.

If Google were a smaller rival, it would be easy for Microsoft to buy it up, or make its products cheaper until the competition has to close shop due to a lack of funding. But since Google gives away much of its products for free, and most of its revenue is derived from ads, that tactic will not work for Microsoft.

What Microsoft really needs to do is to focus, innovate, and then seriously compete. Could they do it? They certainly have the brain power and money. Will they? That's the billion dollar question.

[monkeyfun14]

Well considering Yahoo is a dying company and is in debt correct me if i'm wrong they can use that excuse.

But considering Microsoft has the most money out of any other tech corporation right now they really have no excuse.

[cvaldes1831]

@monkeyfun14:

Yahoo is not in debt. Go visit any finance site (including finance.yahoo.com) and see for yourself. Yahoo is still profitable -- by a fingernail. (As much as shareholders would like? Certainly not). They have $3.45B in cash, total debt is $70.91M.

And what do you mean by "Microsoft has the most money out of any other tech corporation"? Oracle has about the same amount of cash ($23.9B). Apple has a billion more ($25B). And Cisco's $33.55B total cash blows doors on Microsoft.

You should probably do a few minutes of research before you make such statements.

[eadeguzman]

cvaldes1831 - how about revenue? How do these companies stack-up? I think "most money" does not necessarily mean "most cash".

Microsoft is one of the top 10 cited as most "financially sound". The only other tech company there is Intel:

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0902/gallery.financial_soundness.fortune/index.html

[rapier1]

Maybe you work for Google but I sure don't. They're just amother company seeking to maximize return for their investors.

[pentest]

That is a good thing?

Haven't you been paying attention to current events?

Unchecked greed is killing us.

[rapier1]

I'm not sure where I wrote that it was a good thing. Could you do me a favor and point that out for me?

[pentest]

People distrust Google because of their actions, not their size.

[knowles2]

And what action are those.
It wants to do things it thinks is a good idea, and more often than in a perfect world they are good idea.

I have not seen anything google done legally wrong anywhere in the world, well apart from running there immoral tax evading job in the UK but then what cooperation does not.

[eltoro2827]

i dont...i would never work for a gay company.

[rapier1]

That's okay. No gay company would hire you in the first place.

[t8]

So you are unemployed then.

[russ danner]

Google is in the information business. All of their offerings collect data on you and your activities. They missed the boat on Social -- FB beat them to the punch. They have the star map to the Internet but not it's social graph ... yet.

[t8]

It is true that we work for Google. They are 80% of the lifeblood for most web sites that I run.
I also think that they are the best company to own this monopoly. If it had of been Microsoft, the web would be much worse for it. Google as successful as they are, are not afraid to make others successful to spur their own success. Some companies just don't understand this as Google does. So I ma glad that they are where they are. I just hope that they don't become evil in the future.

[Altotus]

Trust after all these years someone talks about trust where do you get it how do you buy it and what do you use it for. God I should be so lucky as to work for Google but just what do you think you are trusting. Hay monkeyfun 14 If Google did anything wrong it would be the government that put them up to it in the first place lol rof.