Government Regulation of Google?

Very interesting. I have 3 comments:

#1 - I'm always hesitant when the government wants to add new regulations because the potential ramifications are not always thoroughly considered (was that politically correct enough?)

#2 - As long as Google continues to provide the results users are looking for, they will keep the lion's share of search engine traffic - if people get annoyed, they'll start going elsewhere. Perhaps too much of a Pollyanna view of free enterprise, but that's what I think.

#3 - You CANNOT base your entire business model on Google -- or any other company -- if you want to HAVE a business. Too many business owners focus on Google everything, and forget that there are thousands of other ways to get in front of their target audience.

Just my 2 cents

Google is run by academics and technocrats. They decide what is best, no other opinions are considered. Of course they believe that their promoting their brand is in the best interests of the public. If the public doesn't realize this it's simply their ignorance on display and will be ignored. Simple academic arrogance coupled with corporate venality.

Well, It's about time that they do that!

So the article was written by someone who was cheesed that HIS company's site doesn't rank better! I wonder if he'd be so concerned if his company was ranked number one? Don't think so.

He does raise some excellent points though -- my problem is, I trust the government less than Google.

DUH DUH DUH..ATLAS SHRUGGED..LOL JP

Would be horrible if the government regulated them. They've also been on Amazon's case as well. They want to make all business "Equal" - which is pretty pathetic since the obvious model seems to work pretty well: Work hard, Do research, and get more sales.

Read the book Socialnomics . Google won't always be the best place to market.

Not making this political but as long as the current administrative office is in power there is no way anything would be brought against Google, in the United States, that would negatively affect them (due to their political connections).

The article raises some very valid points but then again saying that I wish that would happen would be going against much of what I believe although it'd benefit me.

I don't like the FTC going after me but if another Government agency got Google to take down certain things that rank high for certain searches then that's be hypocrisy at it's finest. You can't pick and choose what regulations you wish upon an industry.

I personally wish the internet went to the free market in which it used to be where no power governed what was done (or at least tries in the case of the US government).

Google has been scraping and putting together data for years, thanks to everyone signing up for Analytics etc, and figuring out what buying terms are and what sells. Google is a publicly traded company they are held responsible for their income and when it fluctuates they sure as hell hear about it.

Believe it or not banning re-bills took a large amount of Adwords profit. Keywords like "buy ****" have dropped dollars - and when keywords like that get searched tens of thousands of times per day it adds up to a lot of missing profits.

Google is now leveraging what they have to make up for that and trying to turn a search result into something where they can maximize their return. They have adwords, now they have maps, products, and news results. They are slowly but surely bumping out affiliates and normal websites trying to help the average Joe and Jane (yes those are still around).

It sucks. But Google has every right to do so - we do not pay anything to Google as people who rank organically it just so happens that what we do we do in order to please Google and get ranked highly due to the high market share they have.

Google is more and more turning into what appears to be a marketplace. You do a search, see some ads, see some maps, see some products, and if the consumer scrolls may see your site.

We'll see what happens. :-)

Zach

No way.... The government can not fix anything... they have a perfect track record for NOT being about to fix anything!


Micah Rush

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Follow up.....

For Google, The Meaning Of Open Is When It’s Convenient For Them

CT

Yikes!

This is more political than I thought...

The story is interesting, but more interesting are the comments of folks who I gather are not internet marketers.

I think this is a political blog or something.

Big Government Blog Archive Google: Openness for Thee, But Not For Me

Sheesh...

CT

We need less government intrusion. Google doesn't owe anyone anything and the government can keep its damned hands off of private enterprise.

I personally do not enjoy the 'universal search' content (maps, videos, news results) for any given query. I like the older style, where the good content was above the fold. Google recognizes this prime real estate and is trying to monetize it.

Good for them, they do what they need to do. But there is a balance.

Also, the other day, I noticed Bing offering products directly through their search. Isn't that what google gets chastised for on occasion? Eliminating us middle men.....

The first thing that came to mind when I heard about this was a court case Google won in seconds by simply stating the obvious.

At the heart of every search engine (Google included) is a human element called 'opinion'. What that means is when you look at search results, you are viewing the opinion of the designers of what they think you are searching for.

The fact that everyone and their dog uses Google only means they trust Google's opinions on search results over the opinions of Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and everyone else.

You start bringing Government control into that arena, and you start messing with fundamental freedoms. It would be like the government having control over your opinions simply because too many people liked what you had to say, and trusted you as a result.

This very thought of messing with these fundamental freedoms should send chills down your spine. And you should be fighting this with every fiber of your being, because you could be next.

If this comes to pass, don't say I didn't warn you.

If governments had to do some stuff well, they'd better regulate themselves well. LOL

With their policies and regulations already in place, I wonder if businesses need anymore intrusion in their private matters and policies. Well, if Google cannot decide its own policies who will?

The government? you're kidding me! LOL. I can't have another laugh at that one. It's really funny .