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Another Google Gotcha

You might think I pick on Google a lot, and I do. There's a reason, though. Google has power, and with power comes scrutiny. Just look at what a U.S. president goes through. Every decision is scrutinized (sometimes not scrutinized enough) as a way of keeping this power in check.

Google is as close to a president of the Internet as you can get. So when Google admitted that it tracks our Web moves and sells this information to marketers, I was concerned. In fact, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo -- the Web's Big Three -- all do this!

And using deep-packet inspection, companies can learn exactly what we do on the Web (are you getting nervous yet?). Fortunately, the Big Three don't do deep-packet inspection. I'd like to keep it that way.

What about you? How much should Internet companies know about you? And does Google have too much power? Thoughts welcome at [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on August 13, 2008


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