I found this wonderful clip on YouTube, which shows how Google can be perceived by two people.

I have to say I personally am starting to find the control Google has over the internet pretty scary. The evidence is also that they are harvesting and using a lot more info about you than you can possibly imagine.  The scariest bit from a website owners point of view has to be Googles social graph and XFN link developments.  Look them up and read – Google is starting to associate you with all sorts of people, websites and neighbourhoods through its own assumptions in many cases.  Not good.

For example did you know that Google profiles people involved in the SEO industry?  Why?  To head off paid linking which Google hates, apparently.  Matt Cutts also classifies incentivised linking as having the potential for getting closer scrutiny from Google.  Who made them the Police, and what does investigation involve?  Well a lot more than you think apparently.

Do a search for Google android phone on ebay, and read all about it.  Basically, Google gave away a load of Android phones at a conference earlier this year.  Within days they had 50K links to Android.  Now it does not take a huge amount of brain power to work out that if you give free phones to people who write online that they will talk about it and Android.  Incentivized links?  Damn right.

You try the same thing and watch your site plummet if Google finds out.

So enjoy the video, and just think, whatever you *think* Google knows about you and is using, multiply it by 10 and you will come closer to the truth.  And ten years down the line it could still be impacting on how you are treated online.