“Google Logo in Building43“ by Robert Scoble is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Is Google one of the largest desktop search engines in the world?
With the increase in technology life, people’s use of search engines in their lives shows a growing trend, and why has Google become one of the most popular search engines for people? In general, because Google is more like an encyclopedia for people, people can always find the answers they are looking for on Google. Googlization has also become a new term to describe how Google has dominated our daily lives from computers to mobile phones this year (Vaidhyanathan, 2012). According to Statcounter (2023), from September 2022 to September 2023, Google accounted for nearly eighty-four percent of the global market for desktop search engines, while other search engines such as Bing, and Yahoo! From here, Google is becoming a search engine giant and has a monopoly trend in the market.
How did Google corner the market and become one of the most successful tech companies in the world?
Google’s position in the digital market is very important. Google has been acquiring neighbouring companies in recent years and developing markets to secure its position in the digital market, Google is not only one of the highest-valued publicly traded companies in the United States, but it has also become one of the top five technology giants in the technology market, along with Apple, Amazon, and others. Google has gained dominance by acquiring innovative technologies and proximity to markets. For example, Google acquired Android, which was a threat to him, in 2005 to maintain its position as a search engine, thus solidifying its dominant position (Callaham, 2018). In addition to this, monopolizing the market and preventing competition in the market is also one of how Google has secured its dominant position, According to Robins-Early (2023), Google spends a large amount of money every year to make the default browser of devices such as Apple’s mobile phone Google to prevent its competitors from doing so while realizing that it is a monopolistic practice, this is a kind of monopolistic behavior in the market. Therefore, although there are many reasons for Google’s success, it also faces antitrust problems and has been sued for many anti-competitive behaviors. Google faces a huge challenge in antitrust.
Why do people choose to use Google / Impact of using Google search engine well？
The main reason why the Google search engine has become so popular is that Google not only has the most impactful service to make users have a better experience but also Google has more freedom of speech than other search engines like Baidu, which proves that Google’s business will be freer and more global. First of all, Google has a lot of impactful services, most of these services are free for users to use. For example, Google Mail, Google Chrome, Google Translator, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Docs, etc. (BOXYSUITE, 2022), were some of the most popular software under Google, such as Google Maps, in the past, when there was no Google map, it might not be possible to use it. When there is no Google map, we can only reach a destination by asking for directions from passers-by, but when we use Google map, we can design the fastest and the best route for us to reach our destination through the map. But browsers like Baidu, Bing, etc. do not have as many Impactful services as Google Chrome (BOXYSUITE, 2022). So Google is not only a very powerful search engine, but also its products and software will make the user experience more perfect. on the other hand, compared to other search engines, freedom of speech is also an advantage of choosing Google, Google will have more freedom of speech and is more globalized, so you can express your thoughts and wishes better. For example, Baidu in China, the Chinese government has an excessive censorship policy on Baidu, according to Timmons (2014), because of the Chinese government’s censorship policy, Baidu has been accused of illegally suppressing freedom of speech, it can be seen that Baidu’s users can be easily restricted, whereas Google encourages freedom of speech and globalization, and can accept different levels of censorship. Before that, therefore Google was one of the most successful technology companies.
“Buzz in Google Maps” by Johan Larsson is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
The social nature of the much-vaunted Google presence
However, improper use of the Google platform may also bring harm to society and individuals. Firstly, although we can better enjoy the freedom of expression on Google, the freedom of expression on the internet can also pose security risks to public order or national security. Firstly, users can spread rumors and information through the freedom of expression on Google, which may cause public panic and disrupt the stability and social order of society. Secondly, terrorists and criminals can also propagate their extremism through the free internet environment, which is especially targeted at young people who are not yet able to think independently or are not yet fully matured, and their thoughts may easily be led by extremism or terrorists, which may lead to more social violence and cause social unrest. In addition, some may take advantage of the freedom of speech to make racist and sexist comments or articles that violate the rights of others (Joanne Elizabeth Gray, 2020). It is worth mentioning that, according to Charlotte (2011), the use of Google can cause people to lose their ability to think independently, and when Google threatened to cut off the use of its search engine in Australia, panic among the users let us know that Google search engine has already entered into every aspect of our lives powerfully, which also makes us think deeply again. When Google disappears, what will be the impact on our society and people’s lives?
How governments, software platforms, legal authorities, and individuals can regulate cybersecurity
Therefore, to allow users to have a better experience of using the network, the public interest, and for citizens not to be infringed upon their rights, it is necessary for the government and software platforms and the legal part to implement moderate network regulation. From the government side, firstly, relevant cybersecurity laws and regulations can be designated, such as the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act in the United States. Second, a cyber censorship agency can be set up to regulate cyber security. For software platforms: According to Joanne Elizabeth Gray (2020), Google has set up a private copyright scheme on its platform to better supervise the network. Google’s system not only makes the order of the network more stable and standardized but also makes digital copyright governance more transparent and maximizes public interest, which has a better impact on the users of online platforms. This is a better experience for users of online platforms. As for individuals, when using online platforms, they should consciously abide by the rules of the network, starting from themselves. However, it is also important to avoid excessive cyber-regulation in cyber-regulation, and to be responsible for upholding public values, such as privacy, accuracy, and security of the network, and to be more democratic, fair, etc., which can easily lead to public dissatisfaction if the standards of scrutiny are not well measured (van Dijck et al., 2018). That’s why Google’s popularity and success can’t be separated from the fact that Google has implemented a privately tailored web monitoring program.
Conclusion
To sum up, there is no doubt that Google is one of the most successful search engines in the world. Whenever we talk about search engines, Google is the first one that comes to mind, mostly because of its ability to provide comprehensive and fast search results and bring most of the free services or relative freedom of speech to the people. However, freedom of expression on the internet can also pose a security risk to public order or national security and deprive people of their ability to think independently. Therefore, people living in the digital age should be equipped with basic information about cybersecurity. Everyone needs to contribute to cybersecurity. This will make the experience of using online platforms even better.
Reference list:
BOXYSUITE. (2022, January 14). Top 10 Google Services and Their Features | Boxysuite. Top 10 Google Services and Their Features. https://blog.boxysuite.com/google/google-services-and-their-features/
Charlotte Hamlyn, Melissa Clarke. Mel Silva, Simon Milner, Chris Janz, Rod Sims. (2021). Search giant threat: Google is threatening to cut off Australian access to its search engine if a world first media code becomes law. In ABC News WA.
Callaham, J. (2018, July 11). Google made its best acquisition 13 years ago: Can you guess what it was? Android Authority. https://www.androidauthority.com/google-android-acquisition-884194/
Gray, Joanne Elizabeth, Google Rules: The History and Future of Copyright Under the Influence of Google(New York, 2020; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 Mar. 2020), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190072070.001.0001, accessed 3 Oct. 2023.
Robins-Early, N. (2023, September 13). Google accused of spending billions to block rivals as landmark trial continues. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/sep/13/google-internet-search-monopoly-antitrust-trial
Statcounter. (2023, September). Desktop Search Engine Market Share Worldwide. StatCounter Global Stats. https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/desktop/worldwide
Van Dijck, José, Thomas Poell, and Martijn de Waal, The Platform Society (New York, 2018; online edn, Oxford Academic, 18 Oct. 2018), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190889760.001.0001, accessed 5 Oct. 2023.
Vaidhyanathan, S. (2012). The googlization of everything: (and why we should worry). University of California Press.
