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Google’s plans for world domination (21 August)
With the recent News Corporation deal to provide search and advertising services for popular websites such as myspace.com, Google is extending its reach, again. This is not the first time Google has made a deal to provide its services to a large corporation. In 2005, Google paid US $1 billion to provide search for AOL.
On his blog, Om Malik says that Google CEO Eric Schmidt admitted that they will let a large portion of the advertising inventory go unserved on myspace.com. Why then, was Google so adamant in providing search and advertising services to News Corporation? The answer lies in the other popular websites that Fox Media Interactive owns, which includes IGN.com, foxsports.com and askmen.com.
If Google does not stop soon, it will become prevalent in almost every major online entity. Every major website or network will have something along the lines of “powered by Google”. First step to world domination – be the major search and advertising service provider for every large web network in existence.
Google has already become a household name. My mother knows as much about Google as I do. It is now used as a verb, and has been made into an entry into the Merriam Webster and Oxford English dictionaries. The media reports every move that Google makes, of which it has made many.
Although its search engine is Google’s backbone, it has dipped its digital feet into many facets of computing today. There’s Google Desktop Search, a small program that lets you find files on your personal computer that you thought were long gone. In Google’s own words, “It makes searching your computer as easy as searching the web with Google.”
Froogle is an offshoot of Google’s search engine, tailored for online shopping. Coupled with its recently announced online payment system, Google Checkout, it might have yet another winning service on its hands, and several more competitors trembling in fear. Step two – eliminate the competition…slowly.
Google has also purchased several companies that have developed various applications such as the popular Google Earth, which allows you to see a bird’s eye view of the whole world. There is also the online word processor, Writely and the picture organizer, Picasa. These are provided by Google for free. Google also runs the Summer of Code program, in which they reward students with cash for developing code for an open-source project. Step three – give back to the community, making them love you more.
Isn’t there anyone that can stop Google? Not yet, and if no one does, one day we may really find ourselves living on a Google Earth.
By Siang Wey Lim
Full story on the News Corporation deal
Om Malik’s opinion on the News Corporation deal
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