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Some thoughtfull worries about google misbehavior from FireFox developer

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mouser:
More balanced discussion:
http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2006-12-31-n17.html

Nice comparison between google statements in 2004 vs. what they are actually doing today:
In 2004, before Google’s IPO and shortly after Gmail arrived with a big splash, the Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were interviewed by Playboy, expressing some of their core philosophies (which I think aren’t altruistic philosophies, or mere publicity spin, but sound business decisions further shaped in the wake of the dotcom bust). Their remarks – albeit only two years old – create an interesting juxtaposition with the Google-related discussions of today. Back then, it was “those portals” vs “us”:

On Showing Your Own Content Above Other Content
PLAYBOY: Portals attempt to create what they call sticky content to keep a user as long as possible.

PAGE: That’s the problem. Most portals show their own content above content elsewhere on the web. We feel that’s a conflict of interest, analogous to taking money for search results. Their search engine doesn’t necessarily provide the best results; it provides the portal’s results. Google conscientiously tries to stay away from that. We want to get you out of Google and to the right place as fast as possible. It’s a very different model.

--- End quote ---
Today, Google for many searches shows their own content above that of competition, providing “Google’s best products” but not the best products per se.

--- End quote ---

dk70:
You have been saved http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/01/04/google-tips-pulled/  :D

Now explain why Google "Tip"/ads melted into regular adsense/sponsored links is so much more comforting/fair and sign Google is not evil? Hard to cry about what makes for money for more than just Google perhaps?

Is it really accepted logic that search result/ranking is to be taken as proof of importance? Blake Ross does. How can ranking at Google be anything but popularity/hits + algorithms based on "trade secrets"? A little scary some put so much faith in Google output.

Some good comments if you scroll down at Techcrunch - big deal...

Spread wings while searching with Bumblesearch http://www.bumblesearch.com/bsearch/home/

mouser:
the more i think about this the more clear it becomes to me that i do not want to be using a search engine which has a very strong vested interest in sending me to certain sites rather than others, for their own benefit, as google does.
(ie. sending me to sites with ads on them, etc.)

id love to see a publicly funded search project that doesnt have a financial interest in bringing me to certain pages and i will keep my eye open for opportunities to stop using google.

google does a great job at what it does, but this has become like expecting the car salesman to give you an honest objective answer about where to buy your car.

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