Gunpowder Chronicle posted on November 4, 2007 9:27 PM | Rating:
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Well, that is what Robert X. Cringely thinks.
Cringely makes some serious points. Google -- at $700 per share -- is a very secretive company that dominates a large part of the web space. I know that I spend many of my hours working with clients on Search Engine Optimization -- a specialty that Google literally created with their search engine rules.
The problem? Google doesn't publish any rules on optimizing your site for their search engine. It's really an art.
Their behavior is very much like Microsoft's when it comes to business partnerships. I know this all too well -- as a product manager for InterAct Accessories in the 1990s, I saw how Microsoft liked to bring in "potential" partners, then steal their ideas.
Microsoft plays for keeps. So does google, especially when it comes to web advertising.
It's something to keep in mind. We could very easily see a dichotomy build up, with Microsoft's virtual monopoloy on the desktop versus a Google monopoly on the Net. Soon enough, we could have a substantial oligolopy that breaks down innovation and harms the consumer experience.
Be sure to read the article. Cringely is smart, and sees things a lot of others don't.