<i></i> <i></i> <i></i> -1<p> </p> <p>There are many things in the world which we know are evil. Racism, rape, serial murders…you get the drift. However, it may surprise you to know that some things we use every day may just possibly have an evil agenda. The most frightening of these possibilities? Good old Google.</p> <p>Google is by far the most popular search engine in the modern Western world. While we have alternatives, the Google algorithm is so detailed that it can usually predict what we’re about to search. Google is actually now used as a verb as well as a noun. Anything with the power to change our mindsets and our language certainly has some evil potential. Read on below for more discussion on this.</p> <h2>19. It Permeates Our Internet Experience</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1923.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Google has the potential to control every aspect of our life, and it is doing just that. We usually never crack open a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia anymore. We simply Google what we want to know. We’ve mostly shunned Internet Explorer and switched to Google Chrome.</p> <p>All our e-mails are on Gmail, our entertainment is on YouTube, and we blog using Blogger. Even if we do visit a site that’s unrelated to Google, we use our Android phones to do so. We have to face it; there’s quite a lot of dominance here. And most of that dominance cannot be altruistic. That is just not humanly possible, given the hugeness of the corporation.</p> <h2>18. Runs a Monopoly</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1924.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>If you have any familiarity with economics, you would know that monopolies are quote evil. Markets with monopolies don’t allow any competitors; they drive up the price and exploit their consumers.</p> <p>In 2017, Google was fined a huge $2.7 billion by the EU. Reason being that Google had used the aforementioned dominance to stop competitors entering their search result. Never mind the accuracy of the results themselves. If it takes away from Google’s dominance, it’s not going to be there. Sounding evil yet?</p> <p>In Germany alone, Google dominates more than 90% of all online searches. That’s quite a big deal. However, they are still not satisfied and seek to stifle all competition out altogether.</p> <p>For instance, Yelp is a well-known site for all kinds of reviews. However, since it is not affiliated with Google, you would rarely find it on the first page of search results. You would most probably find Google reviews for at least the first three pages. And let’s be honest, you don’t even go beyond the first page unless you’re desperate. The result is that most people simply don’t get access to the real gritty reviews on Yelp.</p> <h2>17. Not Tolerating Anyone Complaining</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1925.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Sure, the media is free, but not to complain about Google. Their search engine is tailored to penalize those stories that talk negatively about the company.</p> <p>Forbes reporter Kashmir Hill saw just how Google was actively trying to ‘punish’ sites. In just one meeting, she noticed Google representatives talking about not featuring the Google +1 button on Forbes. This would allow them to punish Forbes by ruining their search rankings. What was this if not blackmail?</p> <p>So Hill wrote a story on the topic. Of course, Google threatened Forbes until the story was taken off. Even cached versions evaporated much sooner than normal. Dare we probe into the matter?</p> <h2>16. Firing those who Warn</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1926.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Google has oodles of cash, and it invests in all the big places. These include locations like London, Washington, and other major cities. More specifically, Google dollars go towards supporting huge think-tanks. However, these places of supposed wisdom and brainstorming all have to cater to what Google thinks is best.</p> <p>For instance, the left-wing New America Foundation is constantly speaking out in retaliation to monopolies. It basically supports Open Markets, which was the actual name of a project. However, the NAF has of late started speaking against Google. And of course, the mighty giant would not stand for anyone speaking against its mightiness.</p> <p>The Open Markets leader Barry Lynn praised the EU’s decision to put an antitrust fine on Google. The company, in quite the petty move, fired him and shut the Open Markets project down. All this is happening even when Google doesn’t even own NAF. It was simply one of the most powerful donors for them.</p> <h2>15. An Arbitrary Censor Board</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1927.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Americans sure go through a lot of Internet every day. Most of that traffic is powered either by Google or Apple. So if you’re an app developer, you certainly don’t want your app blocked or banned by these giants. And they can definitely do it, simply because they don’t totally agree with what you’re saying.</p> <p>For instance, there was this social networking site named Gab. It was based solely on the First Amendment. Google is left-wing, so it didn’t agree with those who used Gab. They were right in a way because Gab’s users included neo-Nazis and the like.</p> <p>However, Twitter is wholly supported by Google, yet it continues to support some questionable accounts. KKK members, IS and the Westboro Baptists Church are all tweeting freely. YouTube itself has all kind of propaganda, porn, Nazi ideology, and some very disturbingly violent videos. And yet, Twitter and YouTube are still soaring high on the Google Play Store.</p> <p>So why only Gab? Google just may have its own agenda here. We’re not totally clear what that is, though.</p> <h2>14. Breaking the Rules</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1929.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Google’s dream goal just may be to avoid as many taxes as possible. Many European countries have had to resort to extreme measures. Otherwise, the company was easily skimming off millions of dollars per year.</p> <p>In 2016-2017 alone, Google was caught funneling its Italian profits to Ireland. The corporate taxes are lower there. A €303 million settlement was the result. Its French and Spanish offices were raided as a result of their laxity in paying taxes as well.</p> <p>Even in Ireland, where they have to pay nominal taxes, Google shows its miserly hand. On a revenue of €22 billion, it only paid a measly €42 million.</p> <h2>13. Robbing Normal People of their Only Livelihood</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1931.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>YouTube channels have given rise to some truly unique and talented stars. In fact, many people depend on their YouTube channels for their livelihood. This makes them very much dependent on Google’s mercies. And as it turns out, that’s not a very safe place to be.</p> <p>Google usually pays those who display Google advertisement on their pages. However, the company also has the habit of removing these advertisements without any warning or pattern. This thus deprives the previous hosts of money that they were probably depending on.</p> <p>The reasons for removing the ads usually depends on what is going on in the media at the moment. However, this also depends on how big the channel is. If the channel itself has a lot of influence, Google would probably not touch it. The innocent normal people are thus suffering the full brunt of Google’s wrath.</p> <h2>12. Links with Pharma Scandals</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1933.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Google definitely should block and ban harmful content. However, it doesn’t always do so. Especially if the content benefits themselves. For instance, it turned a blind eye to Canadian drug companies targeting American for almost a decade. Now, helping with medication transactions across borders is not legal, yet there’s a huge profit in it.</p> <p>The drugs passed to and fro between borders are not regulated by ether Canadian or US authorities. Hence, they were probably dangerous for human consumption. Google isn’t a child, and would definitely have known about the law and the reasons behind it.</p> <p>When Google was caught out in these actions in 2011, they settled by paying $500 million. Surely that isn’t quite a huge blow to them.</p> <h2>11. Illegal Practices</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1935.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>DeepMind is one of Google’s babies. It is basically an artificial intelligence that may become the Terminator if left unchecked. DeepMind works with copious amounts of data. This data includes a whole lot of medical records, taken and stored without consent or permission. In many cases, even without knowledge.</p> <p>The Royal Free trust hospital in London was the main partner in crime here. It allowed the record of around 1.6 million British patients to be compromised.</p> <h2>10. More Scandal</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1937.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Noticing a pattern yet? Google constantly seems to be working on something weird and/or illegal. Then its strategy is pretending it knows nothing. When finally caught and presented with evidence, they get defensive and end up throwing money at the problem.</p> <p>Yet another of these scandals is named the Wi-Fi sniffing sandal. I 2010, Google was in the throes of Street View. This involved cars going around the get information about Wi-Fi access points. This wasn’t all though. Google was actually hoarding up the information that these access points had running through them.</p> <p>When accused, Google denied everything. Eventually, it admitted to these dealings but then lied about destroying the data. Fines, lawsuits, and general mistrust ensued.</p> <h2>9. Almost Starting a War</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1939.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Google Maps is an excellent app that keeps most of us from getting lost. However, a little bit of laxity almost started a war thanks to this service. In Nicaragua, a commander checked Google Maps and accidentally directed his troops way into Costa Rica. This was a violation of boundary agreements, and Costa Rica was not happy.</p> <p>Luckily, there was no killing and no war. So we can laugh about the incident today, but how long until the next mistake? What if the incident had happened in Kashmir, which is already a disputed territory? This could have started a major war between India and Pakistan.</p> <h2>8. A Sprawling Empire</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1941.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Google is usually in the tech news for one reason or another. They’re always involved in a huge project of some kind. They’d be in the new about video games, online credit, surveillance, and even politics.</p> <p>In a nutshell, Google is taking over the world rapidly, and it’s making the actions look random. Taking over the world one aspect at a time is too slow. We may get confused by the haphazard way they are working, but there’s a deliberate method in there.</p> <h2>7. Starting Small</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1943.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>If you think about it, almost every evil leader started small. Hitler was a lonely youth who couldn’t even get into art college. Google also started with simple searches and slogans. Now, though, Google Ads and Analytics are booming like crazy.</p> <p>Google can now give you what you search for. However, it goes several steps beyond simple service. It tells its users what they want and helps them get what would benefit Google. It’s probably part of a much bigger game, and we’re playing into it.</p> <h2>6. The Tailing Story</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1945.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>With shopping, Google made full use of e-tailing. This involves Google Wallet, Google Catalogue, and very soon Google Credit too.</p> <p>From that, content follows naturally. Google provides the news, financial stats, videos, and so much more. Like we’ve said so many times before, it wants to own everything. Probably including us and you.</p> <h2>5. Being in the Know</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1947.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>If you take a close look, Google wants to know everything about us. Not just our Facebook data, though that alone would be enough to control anyone. Now, it’s now launched Google Drive to help us store everything we want to without worrying about storage. Google Voice, G+, and Gmail are just more examples of how Google holds our lives ready for its own use.</p> <h2>4. A Little Hiccup</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1949.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Those who don’t use or don’t have phones provide Google with a little problem. However, they soon retaliated with their own kind of hardware. These include USB dongles and netbooks.</p> <h2>3. Glassing it Up</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1951.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Google’s technology is also getting a bit more controlling every day. They’re not content with people using their phones and their operating systems. They want to strap something to their users’ very eyes. Google Glass, anyone?</p> <p>Think about it; what is Google Glass but another way for Google to know just where you are. Whom you’re with, your language, and what you want to look for are just a few more acts in its teeming database.</p> <h2>2. An Alternative for the Masses</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1953.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Google Glass is still quite expensive, so most people won’t be able to afford that. Google would still take their data through the Internet, though. Google Fiber is on its way to providing Internet in all major global cities. They also have a way to track people through their energy usage, through Google Energy.</p> <h2>1. Buying their Huge Evil Lair</h2> <img src="https://cdnone.netlify.com/db/2017/10/word-image-1955.jpeg"/>Shutterstock.com <p>Every evil empire needs the land to go with it. Google needs a mass of people to keep it going. It also needs a whole society of its own, preferably with its own rules. Hence, Mountain View is now almost completely owned by Google. San Francisco is probably not far behind.</p> <p>Now, we’re not saying that one should stop using Google altogether. However, perhaps we use it way too freely these days. Like everything else on the Internet, Google searches are saved as well as the information we type into websites. We practice care in speaking to strangers on the Internet; let Google be one of those.</p> <i></i>