Everything has a positive and a negative pole. Google, the technology giant, and the most popular internet search engine is no exception to this theory. Using the priority rank system, Google search returns information from millions of web pages in response to a user query. Google also provides an image-based search service, as well as software for both personal and business use. It also has a significant impact on the future of science, technology, entertainment, energy, education, and transportation. It has always managed to exceed the expectations of its users. The websites are well-designed, well-organized, and simple to use. It has stepped up its game by focusing on Artificial Intelligence techniques such as Google Assistant and the Neural Matching algorithm.
The dominance of tech businesses in the stock market is due to their unparalleled reach into our daily lives, which encompasses our workplaces, homes, modes of communication, and modes of transportation, among other things. With more individuals using Google and its services throughout the pandemic, their importance has only grown. The company has earned larger profits during the COVID-19 situation and the pandemic. Google is one of the companies that governments in several countries have been closely monitoring for large acquisitions, mergers, and possible moves to stifle competition by buying or forcing out competitors through unfair means. The majority of growing businesses have been bought in the field of artificial intelligence, which is a significant technology field.
According to Google’s algorithm, namely PageRank, the importance and the relevance of a webpage is determines by its extent of connectivity. Search rankings have a substantial impact on consumer decisions primarily because users trust and prefer higher-ranked results over lower-ranked ones. It could be utilized to manipulate indecisive citizens’ votes in democratic elections. The tech company fired eminent academic Timnit Gebru in December 2020 for a research study that looked at the bias in large AI models that analyze human language – a kind of AI technology that supports Google Search. They attempted to cover up the events by claiming that Gebru resigned without regard for ethics or diversity when the company’s reputation was at stake, which drew widespread criticism. Another Black woman, who is now suspected of having deep links to surveillance technologies had taken control of the “responsible AI” section under Google. An increasing number of privacy advocates and privacy-focused companies are opposing Google’s vision of a global surveillance state. “Kannada, a language spoken by about 40 million people in south India” was displayed as the answer, according to a Google search for the ugliest language in India. Google has removed the search result and apologized after receiving widespread criticism after the Karnataka State Government has decided to take legal action.
An investigation was launched by an antitrust panel of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee into the nature and operations of Big Tech, including Google. David Cicilline was the chairman of the antitrust panel that investigated Big Tech’s business practices and operating system. The testimony of the four CEOs of the corporations – Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon – was considered crucial to the investigation’s conclusion. Sundar Pichai has been criticized for allegedly abusing Google’s position as the most popular search engine by presenting information on its products at the top of the user’s search results, putting competitors at a disadvantage. When Yelp reported its worries, David Cicilline accused Google of stealing Yelp’s restaurant reviews and threatened to delist the website when it expressed its concerns regarding the same through a complaint. Pichai also faced scrutiny over Google’s efforts to uncover competitive threats through web traffic monitoring.
A small number of people have joined the “de-Google” movement, consciously participating in a ‘Google detox’ by moving to more ethical and privacy-focused alternatives. They’re setting the foundation for a world free of Google’s monopoly, which could be marked as a turning point in the internet giant’s collapse. Even after Google was found guilty, the penalties were too little to make a difference in its multibillion-dollar revenue structure, and the settlements allowed it to continue benefitting from its wrongdoings. So far, it appears that Google is willing to fight rather than reform to keep up with the changing times.