Is Google Helping or Hurting Society?

Google is a part of everyday life, so much so that is has become a verb as the first method a majority of people take to find information. With such a powerful conglomerate comes an intense amount of debate. People don’t know if Google is hurting or helping democracy and news today. By typing in a phrase then pressing search on Google’s homepage, an individual has just entered a wide variety of web pages, opinions, and stories. Not all of which have been the first source for the information one is looking for. Dozens of Google’s searches result in websites where someone has taken information from another then created their own story and opinion around it. I would be just as enraged as those citizens who are not being credited for their work. It is a frustrating situation that, unfortunately for the original writers, results in a very convenient and quick method for others to find out news. Debating fair conduct, fair use, and fair compensation is essential in finding the best way to manage Google’s way of news delivery. It is a problem that Google will bring up summaries or rewrites rather than the original story; that they may not meet the standards ordered to use copyrighted material; and that the originators of news stories are not being compensated for their compositions. This all leads to quite a bit of negative opinions towards Google. The company has grown immensely to not just be a search engine anymore. I use Google everyday and so does everyone I know, but reading something like “Google limits transparency and is defensive when it comes to criticism” makes me think twice about loving this organization so much. I am interested to see what will become of this huge powerhouse.