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Google is on the cusp of establishing a virtual dynasty
by exerting prominent influence in the ways people access, manage, and respond
to information. Could we be witnessing the birth of a new empire?
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Editor's Note: Information is the world's most vital resource in 2k millennium,
and Google seems to have a hammerlock on the aspects in which people access and
respond to that information. Personally, I'm almost in awe of how often we use
the world Google, and how we interact with the company in some capacity almost
every day. It's mind-boggling. How else do you use Google?
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If all roads lead to Rome, then all cyber pathways lead to Google.
You can't read a blog or visit a technology news site without seeing the
company's name referenced at least once, if not several times, throughout an
article. Just last week, media coverage of the Google acquisition of YouTube
reached feverish proportions.
People just can't seem to get Google off of their minds.
In fact, the terms "Google" and "World Domination" are becoming more commonly
associated together these days among bloggers and tech journalists alike.
The reality of the situation is that Google is becoming a mythical, almost
omnipresent force in the online realm. The sheer scope of the company's
influence inspires comparisons to the birth of a new empire.
The staple of a prominent dynasty is the ability to control access to and
distribution of vital resources to the masses. The Roman Empire constructed a
detailed infrastructure for travel between territories while also developing
aqueduct systems within the framework of their cities.
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search engine rankings.
Ultimately, this allowed Roman leaders to exert significant power by controlling
access to both water and transportation.
How does this translate into the digital age? People want information; it's an
invaluable resource. Whoever controls access to that information will inevitably
wield tremendous power in the age to come.
Google acts as the road to information in today's realm, and collects the tolls
in the form of paid search advertising.
The raw statistics don't lie; Google is responsible for 60% of all Internet
searches in the United States and nearly 70% of searches throughout the UK. With
similar shares of the search landscape throughout the rest of the world, one
singular fact starts to become evident.
When people want information, an overwhelming majority of them look to Google to
supply their needs.
Information access and distribution, however, mark only the beginning of
Google's budding virtual empire.
The next logical course along the trail is to supply people with tools to manage
and implement the information they find within the confines of Google's search
domain. Google Trends, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and Google's tools for
educators are all efforts focused on providing users with outlets for the
management and application of said information.
Is Google ready to compete with Microsoft in terms of application prowess?
Perhaps not, but refusing to take their efforts seriously would be a mistake of
epic proportions. Steve Ballmer perhaps already sees the handwriting on the
wall, according to John Battelle.
So while retrieving and interacting with information is vital, the third side of
the triangle is perhaps the most important in securing public allegiance:
Provide the masses with a forum to express their own ideas in response to the
information they consume.
Google Video, MySpace Video and YouTube are sterling examples of a platform for
the voice of the Internet public to be heard. Millions of people visit these
sites on a daily basis, interacting within a virtual community committed to the
free exchange of ideas and opinions.
Not coincidentally, Google now controls two out of the three major communities
geared toward social expression in terms of video.
It is becoming clearer every day that information is one of the world's most
precious resources; and Google is already at or very near the core of how people
retrieve, manage, and respond to that information.
This may not constitute world domination in the military sense, but it could
prove to be even more effective in the long run.
Is the keyboard mightier than the sword?
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