Comments on: Google starting to think for me?

By: A Day in Paradise

A Day in Paradise — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 11:43:39 +0000

larry ellison – Google Search
Google picked some nice images here

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By: Adrian Wood

Adrian Wood — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 08:10:57 +0000

De Facto monopoly? Erm, not really… there is, quite literally, nothing forcing you or anyone to use Google. There’s no tie-in that makes something else not work if you don’t use Google. The only reason Google are such a widely-used and popular service is because they’re good at what they do. “Lead Brand” does not equal “de facto monopoly.” You use the phrase, but I do not think it means what you think it means…

You can go to any other engine whenever you wish. Yahoo, MSN, Alta Vista; feel free. I will affect nothing outside of the search results you get. As for me, I’ll continue to use Google. Because, call me weird, but I like my search engine to be *good*.

By: Kesher from Spain

Kesher from Spain — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 00:16:53 +0000

It’s just a “de facto” monopoly, in spite of it isn’t an actual one.

By: Aaron Wormus

Aaron Wormus — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:19:32 +0000

If google no longer gives you what you want, then you are free to use another search engine. There’s no monopoly here, just a lot of people using a product that works well for them. The reason why it works well is for exactly these scary reasons. To develop a product that would work equally well would require the developers to do what google is doing now. If you don’t want that then use yahoo or MSN.

Now why spyware programs still block doubleclick cookies, while allowing the infamous google cookie, I have no idea.

By: Kesher from Spain

Kesher from Spain — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 22:05:56 +0000

I absolutely agree with your last paragraph. Google is a huge, scary tool for manipulating people. The only way out this situation is developing alternative search engines. Any monopoly is harmful and potentially dangerous.