1984,The Great Google Expansion Continues

In 1984 the people had little or no choice.  I don't think the comparison holds up here.

Google has been very open about this in the past and continues to be open. 

Their business plan is roughly this:

1. Offer free services in exchange for data
2. Use data to build database
3. Leverage database to target adverts
4. Sell targeted adverts
5. Profit!

You, as a consumer, can choose not to use Google services. Me . . I like teh services offered and am willing to trade data instead of cash.

Thanks for the article though . . good read.

My comment/comparison had a touch of the devil's advocacy about it to be honest Zubaz.  
I agree with you that it all comes down to the choice of the individual as to which online services we choose to use and personally I do use Google as I find it impressive and is becoming ever more so.But,maybe a person who does not use the net as much as we do or has limited knowledge of such things might look at this article and think'omg whats going on?'.    

Hopefully this ficticious n00b will read my comments and have a more balanced view. 

Maybe,but I'm not sure that my 67 year old Dad(for example)scours the web.The daily newspaper is as far as he and many others tend to get.So their views tend to be based on the editorial agenda of these publications.Yes,obviously ballance is available...but only for those who look for it.  

Well I don’t post personal information about me on the web anyway so I doubt they’ll be able to use any of that. The only stuff I find about me from Google is some of my online profiles. This being some of them:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=Ben+Lavender&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

The Ministery Of Information.

So what.....20-something years out of whack?....pretty bloody portentious, all the same.

Knowledge is power....and this is called the 'Information Age'.

In this [current] life...Google is God.

You worship Google?? Blimey.    

It's not just the information out there about you it's what you do on google systems.  Everytime you do a search in google it's dumped into the master database and used next time you use google to make the ads more personalized.  and the more tools you use of theirs (gmail, docs and spreadsheets, search) the maore data they have on you.  That can be good or bad depending on your point of view.

There are a number of good books out there that describe what can be done with seemingly useless information.  The one I started on was a bit alarmist but was entertaining.  It was Database Nation.  Take a gander on it or similar books.  It should make you (if not nervous) aware.

Um....that'll be a 'no'.....[note the lack of winks, etc in #6]....

Ah yes...sorry,I wasn't concentrating.    

Ah, but have you ever Googled your own name? Doesn't matter if you post information about yourself on the internet or not, if anyone anywhere has ever recorded information about you, Google's data miners WILL find it, provide links to your dirtiest, darkest secrets in search results....and if that's not enough, Google stores it in their own ginormous data banks so they can pester your Gmail contacts/acquaintances with sensitive information you'd rather was kept private.

Like Jafo said, knowledge is power....and when Google's purchasing power has acquired NASA as well, not only will it be 'Google's Earth', but as far as the shuttle/NASA's technology will take them as well. I can see it now, how astronomers are gonna get mightily pissed as they peer at the moon (other galactic bodies) through their telescopes and see 'sponsored by Google ads' for inter-galactic travel/vacations, weddings/funerals plastered all over the place.

Jafo wonders what Google gives up if you type in the phrase 'click fraud' .....

Google will give up nothing (belonging either to themselves and/or others) and will vehemently deny any participation/complicity/knowledge in any fraud type allegations made against it.

Wonder if I were to type in (if I used Google, that is) 'Google has too many irons in the fire and will soon self implode', if it would result in the desired chain reaction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_fraud 

Link number One....

Everyone focuses on Google, but how many use say Air Miles ect when they shop?...think of the info they have...and of course we all know about the stealing of debit card info.

It's My Secret

Maybe a coordinated effort by numerous google users would work starkers

It's My Secret

One can only hope....perhaps every Google user world-wide could 'google' to find out when 18.00 GMT. on 31 05 2007 is in their time zone, and at that precise moment type in the exact same search request: "How many people asking the exact same question at the exact same time does it take to crash Google's entire system?" If that doesn't do it at least we'll get the answer.