Isn't the Internet Grand?
You get to go to a website and receive free tips on how to dominate the world.
Isn't Google Grand?
And Google. The Do no Evil is our mantra crowd happily dole out their charity.
They offer complimentary email, newsreaders, & free websites. Heck, they will even give you tools to diagnose your website with Urchin and Google Analytic. Blogger is your free blog. And you can even search your desktop for important files just like you do the Internet. The Toolbar allows you to surf the web and even do "poormans" SEO. And of course you can go over to MSN and get another blog and email, compliments of Mr. Gates. Yahoo and other engines also participate in this "internret giveaway".
Isn't it great that we can do most of our Internet for zero dollars because of the charity of Google, Yahoo, and/or MSN?
And they don't stop. Google has recently purchased Feedburner, and they have teamed with SalesForce.com to make it easy to integrate Adword leads into your communication platform.
So lets see how they are helping.
- I get free analytics that allows Google to data mine my website. They get to see all my visitors and their behavior.
- They will even help with conversion, meaning they can track my visitor thru to sale/lead.
- They will "talk" to my customer/prospect with the tools they give me.
- They monitor my blog for me and make sure that it is syndicated across the web. For my personal information of course.
- They give me websites and readers and software, all for my personal information of course.
- They have made my personal computer an extension of their Internet with the free desktop search.
- With their tool bar and other tools they can track my behavior across the web. I wonder what they gleen when I chance a visit on one of their Google Analytic sites and buy thru Google Checkout.
One man's Spyware, is another man's freebie I suppose.
The lesson in all this is that nothing, I mean nothing of value is FREE. Google is a for profit institution. They are beholden to their stockholders to be profitable. And God Bless them for it.
Personally, I believe they are way into everyones personal and business information. That disturbs me. But it is my choice and yours to allow them the conveniences that they provide. Just realize that convenience comes with a disguised price.
What prompted me to write this is that I recently got a notice of a class action suit against a Hardware Manufacturer. I guess I bought something from them. I am sure it was nothing more than $100.
Now many people will jump right on that and think they are socking it to the man. In reality, if I was to participate I would receive maybe $3 or $4. Who gets all the other monies? The big giant Legal Corporation that are socking it to the "man".
Nothing is free except the smile from your spouse, daughter, or son.
