Overview
In all the poll results I see online, Google is identified as the #1 favorite in search engines. It does not come as a surprise to me because even my eight-year old sister enjoys using Google to look up free Internet games. A part of what some Google users do not see is that Google almost possesses domination over all other search engines. As most know, Google also manages many other programs including, but not limited to: images, videos, maps, news, Froogle, desktop, analytics, books, groups, Earth, toolbar, calendar, notebook, labs, Gmail, and Gtalk. (For a comprehensive look at the entire list of Google programs, visit this informative website, which similarly seems to possess its own monopoly.)
With Google developing new programs every year and including them for free, its popularity seems only to increase. In fact, there are only a few people concerned with the ever-increasing expansion of Google. 1) The companies that feel they have experienced a copyright violation by the use of their websites and/or information in Google programs. 2) Mostly small businesses that are hurt by their minimal rankings in Google search results. 3) A gradually growing group of anxious and paranoid people concerned with the potentiality and probability of a disastrous "grey goo-gle" situation.
Even the most intense conspiracy theorists do not think that this change will occur as soon as tomorrow; however, they do not deny the overwhelming presence of Google and all its comprehensive features. As of now, Google and other similar programs are managed by humans. If mechanical programs are invented soon that can self-sufficiently maintain all of the aspects of Google, the fate of the cybernetic and "real" world will rest in a logic's hands. I wonder what would happen if Murray Leinster / Will F. Jenkins' character Ducky turned the ambitious Joe on again...
Our site explores a few of Google's different applications individually and analyzes how each one might contribute to Google's creeping cultural imperialism. Check each page out and see what you think.
