Google is becoming too powerful

I myself have been a webmaster for more than 5 years now and IMO they are complicated with their ranking methods with keywords, meta info etc.. and also they are becoming a monopoly on searches See Here So, that's my opinion, what do you guys think?

 

Totally agree, however they remain the premier search enginee so we have to work with them for the time being.

 

I think google is definitely a monopoly of a company, but we all have to work with it as it looks to stay on top for quite a while.

 

I agree, as webmasters, we must learn to live with it and learn SEO strategies to implement on our sites.

 

I think Google may be headed toward that direction. They are certainly favoring their own money making efforts and making it harder for smaller site owners.

 

I think google search is just becoming a hollywood and corporation search engine. It doesn't appear that they rank according to quality and just rank towards how powerful the company is behind the site.

 

Some of you need to go and look up what a monopoly is. They not remotely close to being one. They have heaps of competitors in everything they do. how is that a monopoly?

 

That is why I hate going for Google traffic! Too many algorithms that we have to keep up with.

 

I absolutely agree, if nations were actually enforcing their own anti-monopoly laws Google would be split up into national companies and their power limited.
The problem, in my opinion, is not really the size of Google, but the immense power it has to arbitrarily destroy income's of millions of people with a click. Google could change one thing, make all the top positions paid or favor the corporations over all others, and that would result in the collapse of numerous businesses all around the world who rely on search engine traffic to make a profit, employ staff and keep the company going.

I have before compared it to a local mafia, coming around to your business and demanding you do all kinds of things, while always threatening to smash your doors in and destroy the place if you don't comply.

Unfortunately, we all give Google the power, so it will likely be at the top of SE use for a while.

 

Google is a profit-making corporation, owing it to their stockholders (not webmasters) to get the best profits they can. There's nothing strange or sinister about that in a free-market, capitalistic economy. They are not in business to make life easy for us webmasters, but to maximize profits for their stockholders. And they are not a monopoly; they have competition from other search engines.

 

Well lots of people said right thing here. I completely agree with you. Now Google become dangerous and different for all person. We need to follow it very strictly.

 

True, Google is a for-profit company and they let us play in their yard, so to speak. Any viable business will follow the money and I think that's what they're doing. Let's face it, they make a ton more profit off huge corporations than they do a million of us little guys. I think that they have very little interest in us anymore and are trying to filter us out of their "game."

Do I think it's deliberate? Yes.
Do I think they have a right to do it? Yes. But I still don't like it.

Google is trying to 'take out the trash' but unfortunately, in some cases, they are throwing out the baby with the bathwater. A lot of good sites have disappeared from the serps. Again, if they aren't large (profitable) corporations, I doubt very much that Matt Cutts and the others care. They obviously have targets and goals in mind and they don't include us.

All that being said, as long as we are able to take advantage of what they have to offer, I am going to continue to do my best at making my site valuable to readers and Google. I say, let's put the readers first and it won't matter as much which search engine lists us.

 

We do not live in a free-market, capitalist economy. If we did, banks and failed corporations would not be bailed out by the tax paying public, they would be allowed to fail and for new entrepreneurs to take their place, while creating a more healthy economy.

The companies and banks which failed did so for good reasons. They didn't hold wealth in reserve, acted irresponsibly, took massive risks, and all for greed. Good businesses consider the long-term, do not risk billions on dangerous deals, have back-up plans in place and can survive when something fails. This is how businesses develop and how strong economies grow.

Google is a monopoly in the sense that it has the ultimate power to destroy thousands of businesses. With one algo change or one decision, they could immediately put hundreds of thousands of people out of work. When one company holds that power and their competition holds little, that is a monopoly.

 

Forgive me but my first thought after reading this is....if G can destroy us with a single click then doesn't that mean that we do not have backup plans and resources in place? Pot/kettle? Sure, not nearly so easy for us but I think your post brings up an excellent point that we should all consider. I know that I haven't but after reading this, I'm inspired to brainstorm my plan B and I thank you for that! Even if I never need to use it, I think it's a wonderful idea to have something in place so I can hit the ground running in another direction, if it comes to it.

 

Care to explain how they can actually do that when Google is NOT remotely close to being a monopoly? Do you even know what a monopoly is?

Nope. You need to go back to school and redo economics 101! They are NOT even close to be what a monopoly is!

The only businesses that Google can destroy are those that were stupid and naive enough to base a business model on the free traffic from a free listing in a free search engine! How stupid is that?

 

A little harshly put but I agree with the basic sentiments.

A few years ago, the U.S. government considered Microsoft a monopoly. It doesn't consider Google one, as far as I know. I think that's because even though it is a giant in the industry, it is NOT the only one of its kind. There are plenty of others and if enough of us use the competitors, they will grow, too.

It's never wise to put all your eggs in one basket, so why would you place your entire business model in Google's hands. Use the resources available to you, that makes perfect sense, but don't relinquish control of your assets by making their growth entirely dependent on one free search engine.

Please note that is only my opinion, I am not an expert.

 

Exactly my point, but how many DO rely on Google? Take a look around, you'll see millions of posts on these forums from people desperate to get top place in Google and are willing to do everything to achieve it.
I don't place all my faith in any search engine, and that would be a stupid thing to do. I operate more than one business, and Google traffic is not a priority for my primary business.

This doesn't change the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of small businesses all around the world who need organic traffic, and having Google operating the largest "filter" for that traffic, enforcing its own laws and demands on millions of people, is NOT an open, free and fair market.

 

So, my disagreeing with you has caused you to start being aggressive in your responses? How nice.

Like it or not, people have to rely on search engines to get a majority of traffic. Business owners did not choose this, it was forced upon them without consultation. Of course no business should rely solely on Google, where have I suggested that? Do you need to try to make it seem as if I said that to enforce your point?

The reality here is that Google is the primary source of organic traffic for millions of sites. That is a fact that not one person here can deny. No website owner or business has actively chosen that.
It's also a fact that Google enforces its own rules, outside of any general consensus, forcing sites and businesses to comply with their notions of what a good site is.

Speaking of definitions - "In law, a monopoly is a business entity that has significant market power." Wikipedia.

So, in legal terms, Google IS a monopoly, because it is the single most powerful player in a small market, and enforcing its own rules independent of government or oversight bodies which directly impact the businesses, lives and incomes of millions of people.

A perfect example of Google's monopolistic activities is the destruction of directories. Before the Search Engine existed, directories were the place to go to seek out websites related to the subjects and content you were looking for. Google destroyed this competition by branding all such directories as link farms and negative places to be, therefore enforcing their own dominance in the market.

I'm not going to argue with you over these facts, because you've made it clear that you can't handle when someone disagrees with you.

 

I believe you're right, enormous amounts of people rely solely on the big G. Some, I think, do so because marketing gurus encourage it. There comes a point though, when we have to think for ourselves and consider what we want our businesses to be and how to make that happen, with or without Google. G only has tremendous power over us if we let it. I think that if we can devise a solid plan and use G as a tool instead of the only tool to help our income grow, we will be much further ahead. That would give us independent stability.

While we fret over what Google is doing, you can bet they aren't giving much thought to us.

 

You can disagree with me, if you want. I know that I don't know everything.

For example, I did not know the legal definition of a monopoly, so thanks for that. Didn't bother to look it up yet I find it interesting.

When that whole YT/G+ sh*t hit the fan, something inside me became calm about the whole Google thing. They just represent strong-arming drama to me, now. I'm just going to go about my business and not worry about them. It doesn't do me any good to fret about it, my energies are better spent tending my own stuff. Still, like I said, I find the subject very interesting.