Googzilla: Just Doing Its Thing
October 2, 2020
Like Android. Learn to love the Google Play Store. The walled garden has few doors. And Google is striking back against the metasearch engine DuckDuckGo too. DarkCyber is not a big fan of metasearch systems. The “old” Vivisimo system was okay, but now deduping becomes filtering. It is difficult to determine why certain “known” content is excluded from a results list.
What’s this have to do with Google, a company which loses sleep over Qwant. You know about Qwant, right? The Google is now worried about DuckDuckGo. “As Predicted, Google’s Search Preference menu Eliminates DuckDuckGo” reports a deletion: Is this hasta la vista, Duck thing?
The write up states:
The Q4 2020 results of Google’s search preference menu auction have been released and, as we predicted, DuckDuckGo has been eliminated in most countries.This EU antitrust remedy is only serving to further strengthen Google’s dominance in mobile search by boxing out alternative search engines that consumers want to use and, for those search engines that remain, taking most of their profits from the preference menu.
The write up explains:
DuckDuckGo, despite being the Google alternative that consumers most want to select, will no longer appear in most countries. As a result, many EU residents buying a new Android device will no longer have an easy way to adopt a private search engine.
The Google will accept money to display just about any search engine in which one might be interested. Well, perhaps not even cash will allow Tblop.com to appear, but that’s a guess from the DarkCyber research team.
If Duck thing does not pay, so be it. Googzilla effectively stomps another click sucking upstart.
Observations:
- Google is pushing boundaries in order to get some competitive and revenue matters resolved to its satisfaction before the regulatory hail storm arrives
- Google is doing what Google does: Extend its control over what information is available, from whom, and its mode of access. Guess what that is? If you said, another search system you would be incorrect.
- There is meaningful competition but only a tiny fraction of those online know or use iSeek.com, Swisscow.com, or Yandex.ru (much more useful that Yandex.com in DarkCyber’s opinion.)
Are there risks in monoculture search? From Google’s point of view, of course not. From a researcher’s point of view, absolutely, sky high risks.
Is there a fix? DarkCyber does not want to be a Sad Sally but…
The answer is, “Nope, not after decades of indifference to basic online research precepts.” There is a chance that governments will manifest some backbone, but until it happens or Google self destructs from internal forces, Google defines information, search, and online content.
What? No listing in Google for a Web site, service, person, place, or thing?
The consequence is, gentle reader, that entity effectively does not exist for many online users. Cancel culture or disappeared? You choose, please.
Stephen E Arnold, October 2, 2020
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