It has been targeted for a lot of reasons… their 2038-expiring cookie being the most famous of them. For a good summary of all, you can check Google Watch.
However, I still like Google for a whole bunch of reasons (most of which are considered as bad in the above-mentioned website).
It brought us GMail – Massive space and POP access when everybody else was reducing their inboxes and creating “platinum” and “plus” programs. Now they just try to catch up…
It gave us Google Maps even though it is US-centered, its quality is excellent and the hybrid mode is perfect!
It created Google Earth – probably one the best new pieces of software created the last years. And now, their new service Google Talk seems very promising, although still in beta. Oh! and it has an open-source protocol (Jabber)…
Its not that I am Google-fan or anything. I never used their toolbar or desktop search. I don’t need them and I don’t think they are useful for me…. It’s just that I see a company really listening to the “vibe” of the people and reacting to it… unlike somebody other companies… 😉
I strongly believe that Google sees very deep into the future. And if you care to look into their website, you’ll find out why they are the most wanted employer right now in the IT business. And don’t forget that business is business. Google is no exception and to reach here they might had to follow some questionable strategies, besides counting on an excellent search engine algorithm. However they seem to give back lots of useful stuff to the community. I am really baffled on this subject, but I still like ’em.
christos :: webhome 