Is Google taking over the Net?

These past years, Google has targeted different areas on the web. They first started with their search engine, then, after hitting big with the AdWords system they invested in all types of services. So far, they have launched Gmail, Print, Blogger, Maps, Base and Analytics which quickly became popular, all benefiting from the fact that Google is the no 1 search engine. Rumors say that Google will buy another company, Riya, for their photo recognition technology.

So, could it be that Google is trying to monopolize the Internet, by covering all these areas and taking advantage of its popularity as a search engine? But what could make them succeed, in favors of other giants, like Microsoft or Yahoo!? By looking at the services listed above, they all seem to have something revolutionary, something that wasn't present at any other application before. For example, Gmail became popular because it offered 1GB of storage, now it is well above 2GB, Print is the first service to digitize books and make them available for free on the Internet. Why is Blogger special? Well, first, it is pretty easy to use, it was among the first blogging services to launch, it is free and associated with the Google brand.

These all are worthy advantages, but the plus comes from the integration with AdSense. Users can easily generate revenue from their blog by showing ads. This is so popular now, that a new type of spam has emerged, sblog, where machine generated blogs try to take advantage of AdSense or other ad services. Google Maps has two main advantages. First, the fact that it is well organized, complex with a lot of information and uses the power of Google's search engine. The second main advantage is that it can be easily integrated by any application from outside Google. They have taken the effort to develop the interfaces so that anyone can use their service. This can now be seen in a variety of website that use Google Maps, combined with GPS technology to show, for example, the location of cabs in New York, or even show at all times where felons on parole are. Google Base, is also very revolutionary and very promising. It has the unique feature that allows any user to post his information directly into Google's database, without creating any website. Analysts say that Google Base will offer a very structured and well organized database which will surpass search engines. I am having doubts about this, but nevertheless it is a good service.

Finally, Google Analytics, which has been recently launched, offers all that is needed to see how a website is doing, from visitor statistics to website content statistics, down to every detail. On top of this it is free for everyone. No-one can compete with this. They are having some problems now, because of the large number of accounts that have been created, in just one week of its launch.

So, to conclude, it is my opinion that as long as advertisements can fuel Google's engines, it can take-over the Internet by continuously adding to its free web services list and making profits from the popularity of its free products.