Are Google’s Business Practices Ethical?
Are Google’s business practices ethical?
Is Google more helpful or harmful to web users?
Ethics of Business and Government
Matej Koutny October 8, 2010
Bibliography
Boulton, C. (2010, June 22). Google Increases Search Market Share. Retrieved October 8, 2010, from www.eweekeurope.co.uk: http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/google-increases-search-market-share-7912
Cleland, S. (2010, May 24). What Private Information Google Collects -- A One-Page Fact Sheet. Retrieved October 7, 2010, from precursor.com: http://precursorblog.com/content/what-private-information-google-collects-a-one-page-fact-sheet
Ruby, D. (2010, May 25). The Value of Google Result Positioning. Retrieved October 7, 2010, from www.chitika.com: http://chitika.com/research/2010/the-value-of-google-result-positioning/
It was the high relevance of its search results in combination with revolutionary PageRank technology that made Google so popular and changed the way we all use Internet. Good functionality and informal company motto “Don’t be evil” supported with perfect marketing are the reasons why public perception of Google is so good and people tend to forgive Google its defects. Such strong position is unusual and should make us even more aware and alarmed of Google’s unethical methods of doing business. With its share of U.S. searches of 72.17% in May(Boulton, 2010) and even higher figures in EU (around 90%) there is no doubt that Google Inc. owns monopoly on Internet search. Its competition represented by Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo’s search engine is hardly trying but it seems that Google’s position is stable. That’s also why Google’s influence over the Internet itself is so great. For most of the average Internet users simple equation applies: Internet = Google. What they don’t find on Google, they don’t find at all and it doesn’t exist for them. Vast majority of users don’t even look at other than first page of search results. According to research done by chitika.com
Is Google more helpful or harmful to web users?
Ethics of Business and Government
Matej Koutny October 8, 2010
Bibliography
Boulton, C. (2010, June 22). Google Increases Search Market Share. Retrieved October 8, 2010, from www.eweekeurope.co.uk: http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/google-increases-search-market-share-7912
Cleland, S. (2010, May 24). What Private Information Google Collects -- A One-Page Fact Sheet. Retrieved October 7, 2010, from precursor.com: http://precursorblog.com/content/what-private-information-google-collects-a-one-page-fact-sheet
Ruby, D. (2010, May 25). The Value of Google Result Positioning. Retrieved October 7, 2010, from www.chitika.com: http://chitika.com/research/2010/the-value-of-google-result-positioning/
It was the high relevance of its search results in combination with revolutionary PageRank technology that made Google so popular and changed the way we all use Internet. Good functionality and informal company motto “Don’t be evil” supported with perfect marketing are the reasons why public perception of Google is so good and people tend to forgive Google its defects. Such strong position is unusual and should make us even more aware and alarmed of Google’s unethical methods of doing business. With its share of U.S. searches of 72.17% in May(Boulton, 2010) and even higher figures in EU (around 90%) there is no doubt that Google Inc. owns monopoly on Internet search. Its competition represented by Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo’s search engine is hardly trying but it seems that Google’s position is stable. That’s also why Google’s influence over the Internet itself is so great. For most of the average Internet users simple equation applies: Internet = Google. What they don’t find on Google, they don’t find at all and it doesn’t exist for them. Vast majority of users don’t even look at other than first page of search results. According to research done by chitika.com
Bibliography: Boulton, C. (2010, June 22). Google Increases Search Market Share. Retrieved October 8, 2010, from www.eweekeurope.co.uk: http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/google-increases-search-market-share-7912 Cleland, S