Last chance to delete google history

[Notspot]

This is the last week we have to delete our google history, I know most of us have already disabled search history....but some may have missed this.

Three simple steps to delete your Google browsing history... before it's too late | Mail Online

This is quite big news in the UK, not so much in the mainstream media but everyone seems to be talking about it - maybe the beginning of the end for google?

[joewatson07]

Will this affect my bookmarks?

[addz123]

Really just amazes me how much Google has changed in the last 5 yrs.

They started from a philanthropic culture of not caring about money, with a neat search engine, to some horrific advertising machine that has got themsevles into all kinds of public disputes and controversial PR campaigns. From over advertising on their network, promoting their own products, and a ridiculous amount of ads on Youtube (HUGE banner on homepage, plus 300x300 ad block, text ads in videos and 15 second video ads), and now these privacy settings.

For the first time ever it just seems like every new "update" that Google launches, such as search personalisation and search your world, is making it worse.

It used to be the case that Google would search all over the web to find the best results for you. Now it seems as though they're analysing every single thing you look at on your computer, your user behaviour, which sites you visit, to find the most information about you. All of this has the end goal of creating more relevant, targeted, annoying ads by Google. It has nothing to do with more relevant search results..

[pokeraussie]

Their exploiting their monopoly. It's not like anyone will just go and use another search engine.

[Michael Martinez]

Most people DO use other search engines. It's just that the majority of people use more than one search engine.

All surveys that I have ever reviewed have shown that Google's core audience is relatively small. A new survey published last week had a small sample size (400 respondents) but even among those people fewer than 40% said they only use Google.

[f1bettings]

Time for duckduckgo.com

[Sebastian]

From my understanding, this only affects users that are using the signed-in version of Google correct ?

If you don't log in, and work from behind a VPN, which is good practice anyways, I don't really see how this can affect you.

[pokeraussie]

Most people DO use other search engines. It's just that the majority of people use more than one search engine.

All surveys that I have ever reviewed have shown that Google's core audience is relatively small. A new survey published last week had a small sample size (400 respondents) but even among those people fewer than 40% said they only use Google.

But if most people use other search engines AND Google, what does Google stand to lose? In my personal circle, I don't know anyone who uses any search engine but Google.

[Notspot]

It's not like anyone will just go and use another search engine.

Tell that to yahoo - you may be too young to remember but before google took over there was a time it was inconceivable that yahoo wouldn't be number 1.

The reason I feel google may be playing with fire here is the 'power of the geek'. Years ago there was no reason for most people to go out of their way and use firefox instead of IE, it snowballed in popularity 'cos every geek in every social circle told their friends to use it and it caught on...big time. And the main reason the geeks didn't like IE? 'Cos they didn't like the monopoly and power microsoft had over the computer world - sound familiar?

I'm simplifying things there a bit but when you've been around a while, even in the short life of the internet, you realise things can and do change. People use what they perceive to be cool, most don't really care what is the better service, they don't know or care enough to know which is best. If geeks or the 'guy who knows about computers' simply says to his social circle 'don't use google 'cos they are evil and spy on you', most people won't think further than that and use whatever they are told to use by their friends.

'B.I.N.G - because it's not google' - I'd never seen that a couple of months ago, now I see it popping up everywhere.

[pokeraussie]

I agree with that to an extent, but yahoo wasn't in the same position that google is in now. Yahoo has always been more of a portal then a search engine, google's core product has always been search.