Google is not a monopoly!
Surprised to hear that? It’s true though. At this time at least. I wanted to be clear that I’m not trying to paint Google as a potential candidate as a monopoly. However, I really do believe that Google will be going under review by U.S. Authorities (in due time) for breaching some anti-trust laws.
Here’s how to look at it: You have 3 large web engines (note how I replaced ‘search engine’ with ‘web engine’) – Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. Each of which are located on Alexa’s top 10 websites. Would it surprise you to find out that Google is actually ranked 3rd out of Yahoo! and MSN?
What I’m trying to get at is this: Google seems HUGE doesn’t it? Google SEEMS to be the largest site in America – but it’s not.
Why?
For one it’s not as old as Yahoo! or MSN. Google started gaining most of its popularity in 2000/2001. I remember when I was sitting in class one day in 8th grade, my computer teacher recommended that we stop using Yahoo! for web searches and start using Google from now on. Why? She said “because it’s better”. Oh. Well thanks for teaching me that, teacher.
What really started happening was Google began focusing on power. Yes, power. Not energy power; more like social, political, and economic power.
Google has about 100 established web applications currently available to the world. And here’s the thing – THEY’RE FREE! This is what sets Google apart from MSN and Yahoo! – Freeness. Google giving the public free access to applications that can help benefit the user is a brilliant business model. Why? Because Google knows that the strongest commodity you can own is a user base (or information). Not just any user base, but a user base with EXTREMELY detailed statistics about either the user or their website – wait, or their videos, or their pictures, or their revenue, or their ad budget. Are you catching on?
And this is what Google is working on right now. They want information about everything. So they create these web applications (free of charge, of course) and basically watch the internet (or the world for that matter) pour in and give them the information or database that they want.
This is why it’s at least a legitimate claim to say that Google has the potential of being accussed a monopoly. Google would be stupid for buying out any website before it gets too big. Why? Well, say Google buys out Yahoo! and MSN. Google will then be held responsible for most of the web’s traffic – literally. This will raise so many lawsuits between Google and individuals, companies, and yes, the Federal Government.
Either way, there’s not much stopping it. I would hope Google has smart enough staff to realize the potential harm the company can have if they ever get too big. What? You didn’t know there was such a thing as being too big? Companies that are driven by greed rather than intelligence are those who fall into evil – and nothing good comes from evil. 😉