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Why Google isn't what it used to be
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ABOUT MATT MCALISTER
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Matt McAlister began his technology publishing career at Macworld Online where he covered new technologies and games. He then joined the founding team of The Standard and led the online efforts in the US from launch until 2000 when he left to help launch the European edition in London. Currently, he is VP and General Manager for InfoWorld.com by day and instigator of a dotcom media revival by night. His blog is located here.
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The
AutoLink debate seems more like the catalyst for venting
frustration in a perception shift than a real complaint about the
technology. Google was once the enabler of open market
conversations, a doorway to a future where innovators could circumvent
the establishment on the way toward improving the world we live in. But there's
something about this new feature that changes all that.
Product launches such as Orkut, Gmail, Image Ads, and Google News all
stripped away the once-thick varnish of credibility and trust that
Google commanded amongst the digerati. They bought closed
software tools companies like Blogger and Picasa. And then Google went
public. The true intentions of the company's founders became
obvious to everyone. They want to be rich! How rude!
From
Tim Bray:
Suppose some bright developers in a garage somewhere are cooking up
some new, dramatically better, online mapping application. If AutoLink
maps became the default way of doing things, they’re stone-cold dead.
Sure, they’ll just call up the Googleplex and ask to be on the options
list with Yahoo Maps and Mapquest. Ha. Ha. Ha.
From
Steve Gillmor:
Over and over incumbents are walking up to the light at the end of the
tunnel and saying, "Looks like a train." If Google leverages its scale
to create new inventory around links, the net effect will be to incent
competitors to route around it. Just as Google destabilized Office by
creating the world’s fastest (and free) spell checker, reference tool,
and pizza delivery service, so too will a craigslistian series of
competitors destabilize Google if they are stupid enough to persist in
refusing a conversation with the very beta-testers who are their
partners.
The company's Do-No-Evil mantra then read more like a laughable
reverse-psychology trick or 1999 marketing ploy. Craig Newmark
suddenly looked like a saint, and Google was merely one product launch
away from turning its core supporters into rebel forces in the fight
against evil corporations.
From
Doc Searls:
Google is, no doubt, completely revolutionizing the advertising
business. But they have a lot of work to do on the other side of the
consumer/customer split. They need to start treating consumers as
customers. They need to see that markets are not just conversations,
but relationships as well.
It couldn't be clearer from their own statements that Google has
monolithic intentions: "Google's mission is to organize the
world's information and make it universally accessible and
useful." The difference between Google and the CIA is that Google
let's everyone see what is in their database.
Fine. They are doing an incredible job of building an information
services powerhouse with a river of revenues to distribute and
impressive products that do impressive things. Stockholders and
advertisers should be very pleased. Consumers should marvel at
what Google offers.
From
Jason Kottke:
If you're against AutoLink because you think Google is becoming too
big, they're evil, they're abusing their power, or they bought another
blog company instead of yours, then that's fine. Just be up front about
why you're upset. It's a trust issue. Do you trust Google's software to
do what it says its going to do and not take advantage of you? If the
answer is no, don't use it. But if you're saying that Google should not
provide this feature at all and that consenting adults in the privacy
of their own homes can't choose to use the feature themselves, I don't
think that's a good deal for the users. As content providers, let's not
try and reach into our readers' computers and dictate what they can or
can't do with the copies of our content that they've downloaded for
their personal use.
Should consumers of Google products trust that Google is providing any of these services
primarily for
the user's benefit? Don't believe it for a second. Those
days disappeared long ago. It's time to get reacquainted with
Google and understand it for what it is today...a fast-growing capitalistic enterprise competing
for
world domination.
