You thought MS vs Sony competition was bad? Check Apple vs Google

[famousringo]

Kirameo said:

famousringo said:
I found an interesting example of just how much power Google searches have over how so many people use the internet. This link is the second hit if you do a Google search on "facebook login":

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_wants_to_be_your_one_true_login.php

This blog post has been bombarded by people who do a Google search to get onto Facebook rather than clicking on a bookmark or typing in the URL. They find themselves here instead and are frustrated and confused by "Facebook's changes" and why they can't log in. There are almost 1,000 comments and most of them are from irate people who want to be on Facebook.

It's funny, and a little sad, and a dramatic lesson in how Google searches shape internet traffic. And this is why I'm concerned that Google has decided to start deliberately tweaking search results for their own benefit.

I don't get it :S

These people don't go directly to Facebook, they ask Google where Facebook is, and take it on faith that because Google told them this was Facebook, it must be Facebook.

The point is that there are a great many people who only view the internet through the lens of Google. If Google applies a blue tint to their lens, millions of internet users will see a blue internet and carry on. They may not ask if there is something odd about the lens. Google is now fiddling about with that lens, using it to make the internet look like what Google wants it to look like. For now, it's an internet with a little less iPad. Tomorrow, it could be an internet with more Google Docs and less OpenOffice, more Google Wave and less Skype.