The Omnigoogle | Hacker News Reader

The Omnigoogle

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21 pointsbdfh425 comments

Google differs from Microsoft in at least one very important way. The ends that Microsoft has pursued are commercial ends. It's been in it for the money. Google, by contrast, has a strong messianic bent. The Omnigoogle is not just out to make oodles of money; it's on a crusade - to liberate information for the masses - and is convinced of its righteousness in pursuing its cause.

What? How can he conclude that after spending several pages examining how liberating information is commercially beneficial to google? I'm sure I can look at early Microsoft in the same light, if I so choose. No, the difference isn't the perceived righteousness of their crusade, but their keen ability to stay righteous. They haven't fucked up in any big way yet. How long did it take Microsoft to start fucking up?

But there's still a market for expensive one-time downloads of academic PDFs. For instance, I spent $12.95 on a PDF which gave me tons of useful information and is just a business expense that pales in terms of other expenditures.

Also, a lot of webpages exist just to provide information, and aren't bothered about revenue, and you won't find Google ads on, say, Geocities pages.

True, but while many do not have google ads on them, many do as well. By expanding access to the internet and by expanding the amount of information displayed on the internet, it will improve upon the amount of people who use Goodle Advertising. If Google makes the internet available to 360,000 more people, and 10,000 new web sites start using their adwords, they'll have dramatically increased their profit margin. Not only will the new sites on their advertising bring in money, but all the new people now clicking on their ads will too. Win-win.

So, you are right. Not everyone is bothered about revenue, and not everyone uses their advertisements, but more people online and more websites online means that Google will make more money.

someone knows btw if there is an alternative to google adwords for web startups? for instance, what ad platform would suit Hacker News?

...and is convinced of its righteousness in pursuing its cause.

Reminds me of the noble end pursued by the Machines/Robots in I,Robot.

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