Tales of the Talking Tiger

Yesterday Google was announced as the world’s number 1 brand and an increasing number of people are using the increasing number of Google services. Depending on the Google applications and tools you access, Google has the capacity to:

- know what you search on the internet (Google search, Web History and Notebook)
- know what map locations you search for (Google Maps)
- know what you have documented (Google Docs and Spreadsheets)
- know the popularity of your web-site (Google Analytics)
- know what you’re interested in (Google Home)
- know what feeds you subscribe to (Google Reader)
- know who your contacts are (Gmail)
- know the content of e-mails you send and receive (Gmail)
- know your schedule (Google Calendar)
- know your opinion (Blogger and Gmail)
- know the images you own (Picasa)
- know the videos you like and own (YouTube)

And this list could easily continue (what have I left off?). Whilst I have no reason to believe that Google has or will use this information maliciously, I do think there is cause for concern when so much information is stored with one organisation.

In the past, I might have used Hotmail for my e-mail, Outlook for my calendar, Microsoft Office for my documents and spreadsheets etc. Today, I can use the Google version of these commonly used programs for free. It’s an attractive proposition.

I would love to work for Google. Not only is Google the world’s number 1 brand, but it is also the world’s number 1 employer. Google has enormous capacity to do good and improve the way we work, communicate, travel and be entertained.

Yet ponder what could be done with all this information if Google decided to use it for ill purposes, or if their databases were hacked and others obtained it. It’s an advertisers dream, but I imagine leaves the rest of us feeling a little uneasy.