People are increasingly concerned with the amount of data that Google has access to as of late. This issue has risen largely due to recent acquisitions. Google is buying up sites that, among other things, help them profile user behaviour on the web. They want to do this because it will simultaneously help improve their search and improve their advertising. To most recent Googlephobes this is no surprise. What may come as a surprise though is that this is nothing new.
Google already knows you. and has for a very long time. They know what you’re searching for and they know where you’re going after you search for it. While they’ve recently added the ability to follow you once you move off of Google itself using some of their acquisitions, the Google Toolbar, a favourite amongst new webmasters, has been doing this for years.
So what does it all mean? It’s already happening whether you like it or not. Websites have been tracking users since the earliest days of the web. All that’s changed is the scope of the operation. The audience is bigger and the acquisitions are consolidating broader segments of that audience under a few watchful eyes.
This has been happening in the bricks and mortar world for years as well. Think of reward cards. They are purposely designed to do nothing but track you and your purchases. So what can you do? Given the international nature of the web, legislation really isn’t an option so you’re left with two choices. Wear a tinfoil hat or ignore it and move on. Personally, I’ve chosen the latter.
Google, Google Toolbar
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Corporate Comedy Magician // May 29, 2007 at 7:41 am
Yes, I’m afraid of google. Google even knows my first name. My website does not have my first name as text anywhere, yet when I do a search for my full name in quotes, my site come up. Scary!
And do you remember reading an article about google listening in on your computer’s mic. I recall it was suppose to listen to your TV and radio to send ads to you. Anything else come of this?
2 Marc // May 29, 2007 at 10:43 am
The search for you name directing to your site can be due to backlinks. If someone else linked to your site using your name as the link text that will help your site rank for your name. Read up on Google Bombing for more details.
I haven’t heard anything about Google listening in on your mic. That sounds a little sketchy to me, you might want to double check your source on that one
3 Corporate Comedy Magician // Jun 2, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Backlinks sound logical. But I don’t know of any of those. Very few people don’t even know I exist. But I’m changing that. As you can see with my “name” i’m working on google right now.
The mic thing was something I saw on digg and you know how accurate that is.
Anyway, thanks for the info. I myself just started a blog a few days ago. I don’t have any links to it yet. I’m trying to settle a dispute before going public. You can see that dispute if you check it out. comedy-magician.hagermania.com
I would like to add you as a link. I like your content.