MyAlltop

http://my.alltop.com/rkmmarks

Google podcast report

I’ve always had a problem with Google. Not necessarily their search engine, but the way they seem to be trying to take over the internet is a concern of mine. It seems like every useful site nowadays has an option to link it to your Google account. YouTube recently made it mandatory to link a Google account. As far as the internet goes, I really think putting all your eggs in one basket is a bad idea. If my YouTube info gets phished, suddenly my email, blog, Flickr account, and more are compromised. I like keeping things separate. Also, I like internet anonymity because it allows people to say what they really think without fear of it affecting their lives and livelihood. Anonymous conversations are the most truthful conversations because there is no need to take other people’s emotions into account. Some people think this is brutal and harsh, I think that it is one of the most brilliant ways of bringing up new ideas ever.  Facebook and Google would seek to remove the anonymity and ease of entry to the internet and turn it into something corporatized and directly connected to your real life. That seems like the complete antithesis to what the internet is about.

Those are my opinions on Google. Recently the guys at Marketplace Tech Report reported another sinister thing that Google is doing. They filter certain search results and favor things that they think you’ll like. Ideally this would mean you are able to easily find important information on any subject. What it actually means is that people are getting the information Google wants them to get. People can pay Google to get to the top of their lists for certain keywords and people who refuse to pay can get sent to the back. What can we do to fight this and keep a wide variety of information available? Several things. When doing a Google search, try clicking on the second page of results instead of clicking the top link. Try using a different search engine every now and then. Don’t be a sheep; get information from many sources instead of one.