Something About Google

If you were to look on my computer you would find the following programs running:

• Microsoft XP Operating System
• Microsoft XP Office
• Norton Internet Security
• Google Desktop Search
• Google Search Bar (for IE)
• Google Side Bar
• Google Task Bar
• Google Talk
• GMAIL Notifier
• Google News (set as my start page)
• Blogger (the site that hosts this blog)

As you can see, I like Google. When they introduced Google Desktop Search V2 I installed it right away. I now have a bar at the right side of my computer that runs a slide show of every picture on my computer, recent emails, recent news and more. It makes your screen a bit smaller but I still think it's cool. If I had my way, I'd even own shares in Google. I was thinking about buying some when they first came out last summer but didn't want to risk it. The stock has now tripled in price since it's release. What I think is funny is how Google still manages to make more money than any other online search engine. It's closest rival, Yahoo!, has many options that you need to pay for. One of the biggest money makers for Yahoo! is Geocities, the popular website hosting company. You also need to pay an extra fee if you want more storage on your Yahoo! mail account. My GMAIL account is the best email service I've used. Not only do I have 2.5 Gigabytes of storage it also allows unique organizing and a nice interface. On Wednesday I also installed the new Google Talk program. I haven't been able to try it out yet (I need someone to talk to!). Google makes the majority of it's money solely on advertising. The only other fees that I know of are with a pro edition of Google World (satellite imaging) and the fees paid by companies to have top search rankings. Some people are skeptical about Google because of privacy concerns. I don't see what the big deal is. If Google used your personal information maliciously someone would eventually find out. If that were to happen I think the entire company would fold. I really don't think a multi-billion dollar company would risk that. People also complain that not everyone has access to GMAIL (you need an invitation from a current account holder). That maybe so, but GMAIL account holders are given 50 invitations to give out. I'm sure if you asked around you could find someone who has extra invitations. I've given out 3 of them and somehow still have 50 left (if you want one send me an email). So, that's my spew about Google.