Google Has Got it Right-For The Most Part

People who know me well know that I am a big fan of Google.  I felt it would be nice to dedicate one post to Google as I have a feeling many posts will be referencing them.  The way I see it Google is Good.  People see some hidden agenda behind closed doors, but that may just  be fear of the past.  Many times in the past corporations have tricked people and as a result they had not read the "fine print."  Here is Google's catch-The more you use Google, the more money the make.  Not from you but from advertisers.

Google is a search engine, but they make money from online advertisements.  In short, Google is an advertising company.  If you preform a Google search, your page is filled with relevant advertisements to the search query you made.  These advertisements are by corporations and individuals who want you to come to their website.  For example, if you search "headphones" the first link that should appear is "SkullCandy" headphones in a shaded text box.  In the top right corner there are these little words written "Sponsored Links."  How many times did you notice that before you clicked on the ad.  If you dont believe me, here it is:

To me, that ad is just as relative as the next link in the list and I loose nothing by clicking on it.  Every time you, me, or anybody clicks on that link, Skullcandy pays Google a "Pay Per Click"  This could be $.01 or $20.  The more obscure the search the higher the value.  if a Pay Per Click is $.05 per click, The Advertiser will pay Google $.05 per click on the ad.  Google then keeps a cut-maybe $.01 and gives the website owner the rest- $.04.  Everyone is happy:

Marketters get a lot of people to see their product for cheap
Google takes a cut
Website owners get a cut
Viewers see something relevant and have nothing to loose (except time)

Hopefully soon I intend on having Ads by Google on this page for relevant advertisements to appear and to generate revenue.  If I have thousands of people coming and reading my blog and them clicking on the links, I make money-Therefore Please Click the links/Ads on the side of this page.

Just Kidding

If you are still with me, you will come to see that the more people use Google, the more money it makes.       Essentially all the free products Google releases is to get you to use their search more.  That this the catch.  They are not forcing you to use the products, search anything, or do anything different.  If Google makes you happy, you will keep using the search engine and they will keep making money every time you click on a search Ad.  Now in my opinion - this is brilliant.

People have been complaining that Google has too much information stored online about them.  They are not the only ones.  Almost everyone uses email in todays world-Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, Company Mail, or any other Domain Mail.  All of the information is saved on a server located elsewhere that is accessible anywhere there is internet.  Email is just one aspect of Google's product line.  Google also has Voice, Calendar, Talk, Docs, Reader, and a lot more.  Now Google is providing us with all of these free services so that we use Google more.  We sometimes (ab)use these new innovative products to the max that help us in our day to day lives, now inevitably Google is going to have a huge amount of data about use stored on their servers.  I know almost everything I do (including this blog post) is on Google.  This is the key question-How is this Google's fault?

I'll give you an example.  When I go to get a haircut (cost cutters),  I go into the salon and they ask for my name.  I give it to them and they pull out a little card which tells them exactly how to cut my hair.  I like this especially because I can never remember what clipper number I usually get.  Now my barber has no other use for the card other than providing me fast good service when I come in.  It makes it easier and faster for them, and it makes me happier and satisfied.  Now one day I come in and don't like the fact that they write down how they cut my hair last time.  Its an invasion of my privacy right?  What are they going to do-sell the card to my neighbor?

Google provides use with great services so as a result, they have to store all the information that we provide them with.  Whose fault is that?  What is the solution?  I wouldn't know to do if I were the CEO of Google-how does one explain this situation to an ordinary person aside of reading this blog post.  They tried to make it as transparent as possible by creating The Data Liberation Front, but that just made people even more mad after seeing how much information THEY gave google.  This comes to a key point in this blog:  I don't know if I am missing something here- please let me know if I am.  Like I mentioned in my first post, I ask myself this question many times a day.

Please leave me comments if you agree or disagree with me.