We ALL Have a Google Leech in our Pocket!
Have you ever wondered if you were being followed? I have a new website, its actually a part of a Joint Venture Project I have been slowly building with a few others you will recognize before long. The site is LITERALLY HIDDEN from public eyes. We have an index page with the noindex, nofollow meta tag in place and none of the pages in the site have ever been linked to from outside sources. None… zero, null, nada, choose you own favorite word and insert! Guess what… Google found it, and indexed it anyway!
Let the Data Leeching Begin!
After just a few short minutes of backtracking and research, I realized the ONLY way Googlebot could have found these well hidden site pages was through the toolbar tracking or some other method of following me, I had to ask myself… WHY do we agree to let them follow us everywhere? Would I agree to let anyone else follow me around in my daily life, documenting every stop I make, every person I talk to, every purchase I make, Never!
Why have we all become SO comfortable with the idea of losing our status of anonymous browsing?
As I was looking around, I came upon an article over at Read Write Web where Sarah Perez wrote about the end of online anonymity. While she talks about quite a few aspects, the thing that had me glued and following link after link over the weekend, were the bits about just how much we give up to google, without a clue, or at least… without a care!
Finally, there is Google, the company we joke around as being “our new overlords.” The reality is that we have, in fact, turned over vast amounts of our personal identity to this company in exchange for free webmail with pretty themes, snappy web browsing experiences, free analytics tools, more…. ….Big Brother staring at us through TV screens is nothing – instead, we’ve managed to create a world where we blindly, willingly, hand over our data and personal identities to a publicly traded company because they promised us they were trustworthy.
If you have doubts… check out these 2 links:
It all Started with the Latest Google App – Friends
I got an update from Suzanne over at her Making Money Ideas blog… she mentioned that she was going to try out the new Google Friend Connect application for blogs and was looking for feedback from her readers. Congrats to Suzanne also, she was the Co-Winner of the Blogging Idol Contest!!
Anyhow… I got to thinking, when did Google leave the search market? The answer is truly never, since they OWN the search world, BUT they are developing these fancy little applications so they can reach even DEEPER into the lives of ALL of us, and deliver advertisements to us based on where we go, what we do and how we live our lives online!
Cmon – How Bad Could it Really Be?
I trust very few large companies! Maybe it was all of my years in the corporate world, but the bottom line… well, it all revolves around the bottom line! Have no doubt that Google is no different, and even though they say their mission is to provide their customers with the best possible results when it comes to search, the bottom line is in their stock quote and investor relations. They play both sides of the fence better than anyone, and can… we ALL give them permission, and all we had to do was use their search engine!
Did you Know that by using the google search engine, you agreed to let them track your every move until 2038? Go ahead… check it out!
Did you know that you agreed to let Google share your browsing habits with advertisers so they could target you better? They say its anonymous… but lets be real. Why are ads ALWAYS relevant?
Did you know that EVEN IF you block Google from tracking you, they can do so based off your computers IP address?
Do you have a site that lives and breathes on affiliate income? Do you visit it often to check stats? Google knows that too! They may even stop ranking it at some point due to an internal quality score… BUT… as Alan pointed out over at Affiliate Confession, they LOVE them and get great quality scores as long as you use adwords to send traffic to them! In other words… pay us, and we will send you traffic! Extreme idea… not really!
Directly from Googles own Privacy Policy:
We have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request, (b) enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or (d) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, its users or the public as required or permitted by law.
I would hope everyone goes over and reads the privacy policy from top to bottom, including all the info they store behind the links!
GoogleLeech is following you! Think about that as you Browse Today!
Previously Published Articles You May Like to Read:
- 9 Complete Failures in the New Google Mayday Search Results
- Google Likes Highly Engaged Traffic Too!
- Google Makes Caffeine Official
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I have been doing my part to "Build the Internet" since 1994, when I built my first website! Since then, I have built hundreds of niche websites for myself and many others, focused on design, applications, ecommerce, search optimization and internet marketing.
Did I understand it correctly, that your site will gain some points in the eyes of Google if you drive some traffic to it through adwords? Will that enhance the search rankings? In that case I better start arbitraging a bit ;)
@ Solid names –
No… the traffic would come from the cost per click in ad spend you are willing to give to Google Adwords!
I know the only increase i EVER see in ppc traffic, ends the minute the campaign does!
M
Your a mind reader ark. I have been thinking about this for a couple months. Seems that once I bookmark one of my sites for easy access the rank of that site drops. Coincidence? Don’t believe in them. Does the toolbar, analytics and webmaster tools drag us down? I’m beginning to think so.
I’m not paranoid they are watching me. LOL
What can you do, not much.
I have been aware of this for a bit of a time.
This is why I stopped using Google Analytics, this is why I will stop using Gmail.
It’s really scary. That’s why I have never tried to install Google’s Internet Browser – “Google Chrome”. Just imagine how much information they can get about you if you use their search engine.
This is why competition is needed everywhere.
This is what happens when one body becomes to dominant. I despise the lack of competition in search. If Microsoft buys Yahoo the internet will be a duopoly and a worldwide one at that.
These two companies will know more about individuals any other organization on the planet. Looks like George Orwell may have been 25 years to early.
I think they should be restricted to a 25% market share tops but I just don’t see how that’s possible. Someone needs to design something as good or better and the public needs to change its habits.
Ain’t going to happen.
Yikes! This s all a lot to swallow?! Especially the “bookmark” comment. I will go read the links you’ve provided and let this sink in … and wait to see what else you have to say on the subject and your readers. I love to learn from other bloggers and this is a perfect example! Thanks. *SmiLes* Suzanne
That’s pretty freaky!! I knew that Google was a bit nosey, but had no idea they had so much info. That’s not cool! It’s enough to make you want to quit using Google, but unfortunately they are everywhere. Just check out almost every site that you visit…I see the “googleanalytics” loading in the bottom bar, which means they can follow me everywhere. Not to mention that cookie. I don’t have anything to hide, but still don’t really like being followed. It’s going to make me paranoid!!
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