Is Google no longer the 'Don't be evil' company? You decide. Win a free book. Seriously.

    On its march to world domination, has Google come to a fork in the road and taken the corporate path most traveled? The one that leads a giant corporation to arrogance, monopolistic practices, disregard for competitors (and the welfare of whole industries), and just plain evilness?

    To many, Google's power and size have turned it into the old Microsoft, while the new Microsoft has become the poor underdog fighting the good fight against the Google monopoly. Google is abusing its power, poking its Snidely Whiplash nose into our personal Internet transgressions, monitoring our phone calls, stealing copyrighted books for its own gain, destroying the journalism business, censoring search results in China, and even dodging taxes in the UK.

    Enough hyperbole. Here are some facts. Well, OK, some actual opinions.

    Google's power just keeps growing. Henry Blodget has even said that Google's search revenue is surpassing that of Microsoft's revenue from Windows!

    Google already has: 

over 70 percent of the search business, 

76 percent of the search ad market 

57 percent of the server ad market (placing ads on other sites),

    And if it acquires AdMob, the combined market share in ad revenue will put it in first place in sales through the major mobile players , at 21 percent. Consumer groups are opposing the acquisition as further expanding Google's monopolies and increasing Google's invasion of our privacy.

    Google already collects more data on people than George Orwell's Big Brother in a really nasty mood. That is -potentially- an invasion of privacy that -could- be woefully abused. PC World's Tony Bradley thinks Eric Schmidt doesn't show nearly enough appreciation for his customers' concerns. On CNBC, Schmidt basically says that if people don't want Google's data mining snares to catch them doing something bad, then they shouldn't do something bad. The FBI might catch you. Or worse, the Chinese.

    Google is (apparently) about to enter another industry, designing, marketing and selling its own unblocked cell phone, the Android-based Nexus One. But it will be pricey, and Jeff Bertolucci at PW World worries that Google is no longer acting as a disruptive force to shake up the wireless industry, as it has in the past tried to do with free GPS, free wi-fi, free software applications, free voicemail and free public DNS. Has Google abandoned the ideals it has been using as cobblestones on the path to hell? Has it reached its destination?

    Google is even rumored to be following up on the Nexus One with a new Google-branded Netbook (or two) based on the ChromeOS. Chris Barton at Bright Side of News worries that by producing its own hardware, Google could load it with Google-only software and make it tough to use software from other companies (no Mozilla or Bing? Holy Microsoft tactics, Ballmerman!)

    And don't forget that as Google enters new markets -- mobile advertising, its own phones and PCs, Google Books -- it will have even more opportunities to mine data and invade our privacy.

    In the UK, politicians are criticizing Google for not paying a corporation tax of £450 million ($728 million U.S.) The Brits call it "swerving" the tax collector, a greedy move considering that Google's "best-paid director trousered £1.1m" in salary last year. (Don't you love British slang?) Of course, Google isn't actually required to pay that tax. It swerved around it by sneakily following the example of other evil corporations, placing its European headquarters in Dublin, where the corporation tax is lower than it is in Britain. Nevertheless, UK Lib Dem (uh, I think that's Liberal Democrat, the party in power) deputy leader Vince Cable says Google is "not playing fair" and is "ducking its social responsibilities, especially in a time of recession."

    Google has even, according to DeepTech's Stephen Shankland, refused to adopt an unique open source license that mandates: "The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil." What a loophole!

    And, of course, there' the classic decision to enter China and conform to its strict censorship standards, a decision that still bugs Sergey Brin.

    Now, here's my confession. Please don't judge me too harshly. So far, I'm not worried about any of this. 

    It seems to my brainwashed mind that Google (although arrogant enough to believe that everyone should just realize that all its moves are designed to do good and that the criticism is barely worth addressing) is generally a fair, honorable and trustworthy company. God I hate saying that.

    And it bugs me. Everyone thinks I'm too soft on Google. It has absolutely ruined my reputation as a hard-hitting, skeptical, curmudgeonly, Snidely Whiplash-ish journalist. Even my wife used to get mad at me for writing mean articles about people whom we used to run into at Comdex parties and seemed perfectly nice to her. Those were the days.

    So I need your help. Please help me regain my bad reputation.

    I'm looking for feedback. Is Google evil?  Please vote on the poll in the right column. And for my own good, add your opinion to this posting. Bring back the Darth Vader in me. Tell us whether or not you think Google is evil, and why. Give your best example. Or six.

    You will need to register in order to post a comment, but it takes just a minute. 

    But wait, there's more! The first 10 people to post comments -- whether you think Google is good or evil -- will get a free, autographed (with effusive praise of your wit and wisdom) copy of the extraordinary new book, "Inside Larry & Sergey's Brain" (a book about the founders of Google). Although it does not say "Google" anywhere on the cover, it is indeed about the Google founders. You know, Larry and Sergey. Page and Brin. Some people don't know that. Talk to the publisher about it.

    I'm serious about this. I really want your opinion, positive or negative. I like getting both sides of the story before writing my own biased version. At least that journalistic instinct remains. 

    But wait again! There's one more incentive: The person with the most interesting response -- whether it's 'Good Google' or 'Evil Google' -- will get free autographed copies of both "Inside Larry & Sergey's Brain," (a book about the founders of Google) AND Ken Auletta's book, "Googled: The End of the World as We Know it." It takes much longer to read and doesn't have the snazzy writing of "Inside Larry & Sergey's Brain," (a book about the founders of Google) but you get more pages for the money. 

    The winner will be determined by reader votes.

    One slight clarification. I don't know Ken Auletta, the author of  "Googled: The End of the World as We Know it" as well as I know the author of "Inside Larry & Sergey's Brain" (a book about the founders of Google), so the autograph in that one will actually be mine. 

    Hey, what am I, chopped liver? I've won awards, you know.

    I will post the names of all winners.

    Thank you, and read more books.