I’m Goo-Goo for Google!

If someone were to ask me what was my favorite website I would gladly resound, “Google.com” of course! And the funny thing is Google isn’t even a traditional web site , it’s a search engine. But I can honestly say, if Google gets earns revenue by how many times people click on their search engine, I am sure my “clicks” alone has put some employees child through college. I am an avid Google user. Google.com is my home screen (partially due to the partnership between Google and Dell); I haven’t even upgraded to iGoogle yet. I will “Google” something, even though I already know the web address, simply for convenience. I believe that 40% of my daily internet use consist of me searching something on “Google” , and another 10% checking my Gmail account. I believe that I have used just about every dimension of Google – from GoogleEarth to GoogleAlerts. Over the last 7 years I have gone goo-goo for Google. Which make me wonder about the power of Google. Is everyone affected? Should we be concerned?

I say no.

As I began reading Search- by John Battelle, I was absolutely captured by the history and evolution of Google and its peers. All of a sudden I felt connected to the Google Company and its rise to becoming the largest media company on the Web. And one theme that stayed consistent throughout the Chapters of the book , was that there were real people behind the operation. Battel’s Database of Intention theory describes how Google has been able to adhere to the wants and desires of the people. He describes that future anthropologists will look to the internet(specifically Google search archives) to get a better understanding of our culture. Of course this will differ from traditional anthropological methods, in which the people or traditional records would speak for the culture, the internet will be the hieroglyphics of our time. All this is simply to say that people run Google. Google is not a “Irobot” computer system gone array and killing people. It is maintained updated, downgrading, researched, posted, surveyed, monitored, and every other service they do…by human beings. When we allow a brand to get so large that we can no longer see the people behind the brand, then that is when problems occur. The only issue I had with the Google rise was in the book where Battel said that Google has been known to present itself as closed system . We all know that no business , no matter how big or small can thrive if they shield themselves from outside advice,comments, critique, whatever. And those systems that do not become open systems eventually fade away.