There has been a lot of talk on the Internets about how Google and its search technology should be regulated by the government. The New York Times had an editorial on why it should be regulated. Danny Sullivan wrote a great piece about how The New York Times should have its own editorial policy regulated as well. His piece really does a great job of summing things up.
Google’s Marissa Mayer also did a follow-up piece to all this ridiculous talk about the need for “search neutrality” and government regulation.
I cannot help but give my own thoughts on this. This is far too important of an issue to sit back and let other people who do not understand how Google works make comments on how things “should be.” Danny Sullivan understands the issue. Marissa Mayer understands the issue as well and yes, I understand she may be biased as well because she works for Google and most certainly has her own money tied up in Google’s stock.
People Trust Google
Google is the most used search engine because people trust it. Google is not the most used search engine because they are so powerful that they own the Internet. For anyone to say that Google is somehow limiting peoples access to the Internet is plain stupid. One can go to any website they want to. They may have trouble finding it without using Google or another search engine for that matter, but you are still free to go anywhere you want and use any search engine you want. Google does not control where you can and can’t go. Google does, however have a lot of where you can and can’t go from its own properties. You do not have to start your browsing experience on Google. You can start it anywhere. You can start on Yahoo! or Bing. Here in the United States, we have the freedom to go to nearly any website we want without any interference. That is why it is important the United States continues to control the Internets backbone and naming system (ICANN). In China, you are not free to go where you want on the Internet. They censor what you can and can’t see. That is simply NOT the case in the U.S.
The people that have proposed solutions to how Google should rank websites should take their own suggestions and create their own search engine. If you have such a good idea on how websites should be ranked, by all means try. Quit giving suggestions to how things should be ranked by Google if you have absolutely no idea on HOW they are ranked by Google.
Google is number one because people have come to trust its results. For most searchers (at least the intelligent ones), if they can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll start over and try another set of terms to search. They think they are the ones in the wrong and almost never fault Google. If you can’t find something in Google, chances are you are searching for the wrong thing or it doesn’t exist. Chances are it is you who isn’t searching for the right thing. Not the latter.
Government Regulation of Google Search Results Spells Disaster
I surely hope the government never steps in and starts regulating the Internet or Google for that matter. The Internet is such an amazing form of speech that is only as great as it is because it isn’t regulated. The Internet is in a constant flux of change. It is truly remarkable that Google is able to find what you’re looking for every time you look for something. It is truly remarkable that they have been able to improve the Internet as much as they have. The Internet would not be as great of a place it is today without Google’s contribution. Prior to Google’s arrival on the scene, it was hard to find relevant results. It was so hard that back when Google was first launched, I had to use a site named Dogpile that aggregated results from all the search engines.
The government has far more important things to worry about than how Google ranks things. Liberals and conservatives can agree politicians can’t get anything right. For anyone to think they should have any say in how Google’s ranking algorithm works, well, that is plain silly.
