Google Humbug

Alan Cai

June 10, 2022

A name well-known by countless across the map, Google has distinctively made its digital mark upon the Earth. Google itself is a bogus name, having been originally used to twist the number googol(a representation of 10100). Such counterfeit is but the seed from which the rest of the extensive gnarled tree blooms from.

The wrongdoings of Google, whether it be nonconsensual location tracking, or widespread data selling, are widely documented and explored in various court cases, antitrust cases, and journalism as a whole.

The existence of corruption, especially in larger corporations, is inevitable. Thousands of companies blossoming and fading throughout the centuries provides sufficient evidence that as soon as massive pools of power amass, at least a portion may not be used for beneficial purposes.

Aside from abusing its position as a lead manipulator of global information systems, a larger threat, often unseen, looms beyond the cloud. A single entity entrusted with controlling the majority of the world’s internet search usage, as well as huge swaths of other similar industries, such as video sharing, digital maps, and operating systems, is bound to carry considerable risk.

Countless moments in history have demonstrated to us that quickly forming bodies, absorbing and defending control of their respective domains, fall quickly, leaving flaming chaos in their wake. The rise of the Mongolian Empire, Macedonian Empire, and, to a certain extent, the Roman Empire, quashed their enemies to the point in which the only worthy opponent they could possibly unearth, would be themselves.

Being non-militaristic in nature, however, Google suffers from a different dilemma; innovational. Indeed, one could suffice to say that the sheer quantity of data processed by Google gives it plenty of potential openings to defend. Nevertheless, the issue with Google would not be its inability to properly protect user information, but rather the paucity of necessity for such.

The market share Google, and its browser subsidiary, Chrome, control renders fear of alternatives almost non-existent. The tendency for web users to prefer staying with familiar services renders any threat for mass user emigration also extremely unlikely. The absence of this key balancing factor is what makes Google such a dangerous company.

A quick comparison between Google and other search engines such as Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo immediately unveils differences. The former lacks the ability to quickly update its engine crawler to include the latest new websites(such as the brutus journal, which has been listed since its inception on the latter three). On the other hand, security from third-party developments and content relevancy is arguably sacrificed for increased profit margins.

No explanation can be given for this inherent setback other than competition, or more precisely, the lack thereof.

Google, conceivably the most powerful company in the world, is a threat to the freedom and well-being of all internet users. The centralization and extreme monetization of the internet will bring upon its ultimate downfall. A widespread exodus from the engine service is necessary to control its amassing power.