Google

Context : SearchEngines

2023 : CoryDoctorow on its "Enshittification" : https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/03/not-feeling-lucky/#fundamental-laws-of-economics

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/21/im-feeling-unlucky/

But thanks to the antitrust trial, we're learning about more of these. Megan Gray – ex-FTC, ex-DuckDuckGo – was in the courtroom last week when evidence was presented on Google execs' panic over a decline in "ad generating searches" and the sleazy gimmick they came up with to address it: manipulating the "semantic matching" on user queries:

https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/

When you send a query to Google, it expands that query with terms that are similar – for example, if you search on "Weds" it might also search for "Wednesday." In the slides shown in the Google trial, we learned about another kind of semantic matching that Google performed, this one intended to turn your search results into "a twisted shopping mall you can’t escape."

Here's how that worked: when you ran a query like "children's clothing," Google secretly appended the brand name of a kids' clothing manufacturer to the query. This, in turn, triggered a ton of ads – because rival brands will have bought ads against their competitors' name (like Pepsi buying ads that are shown over queries for Coke).

2021 : Good story on GoogleMessagingApps

2019 : Big player in MachineLearning with TensorFlow

For a moment in the 2000s it was the biggest, smartest BigTech co. around.

• GoogleBase
• GoogleVerse
• AdSense

Against :

AgainstGoogle

Google's PlatformWars

(read with SearchEnginePlatformWars)

• now an operating system? : http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-5759958-1.html?tag=nl.e501
• GoogleHoles / MicrosoftVsGoogle
• What are they building in there? : http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=1524b97e-f8b1-4e42-ac07-455337f299b4
• TheUserIsThePlatform
• Google are using ExclusiveInvites for their new online services

Other Google stuff

• Google's IPO letter is interesting and commendable : http://battellemedia.com/archives/000627.php

: but corporate governence is criticised : http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9480242.htm

: taming the VCs? : http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_422

• Google as super-computer : http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/05/07/19OPstrategic_1.html

: (Web-scale programming? Contrast SituatedSoftware. Though maybe there's also PlentyOfRoomAtTheTop. And also ConservationOfModularity)

• Apparently Google allow their employees time to work on their own projects. Contrast ResearchCentres, compare FifthDayStrategy

• OnGoogle/UsingPredictionMarkets

EstherDyson suggests it goes medical : http://weblog.edventure.com/blog/_archives/2004/9/8/127376.html

Outdated links

• PageRank
  • NOW with NoFollowTag to help protect blogs and wikis against spammers.
• GoogleEatsLibraries
• GoogleDesktopSearchAppliance
• GoogleAsAi

Imagining its future (March 2006) : http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/01/01/8368125/index.htm

In China : (OnChina) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4536473.stm (OnChina)

It's gaming store died because no-one trusts it : https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/01/stadia-died-because-no-one-trusts-google/

Google Fun!!

• The banality of google : http://www.ftrain.com/GoogleIP.html

• Google will eat itself : http://www.gwei.org/gwei/
• http://googlefight.com
• http://www.secretgeek.net/ms_search.asp

Censoring the World Socialist Website? https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/11/04/goog-n04.html