What happened to "Don't be evil?" I turned that off but the problem is you're never sure if you've actually handled something correctly because they make it so darn difficult.
I consciously try not to use Google but when I do it's with ad blockers. For products is Amazon directly--they are usually #1 anyway after the many ads Google puts on top. Ironically Google is training people to go directly to the top sites by putting them on top for virtually anything.
They work on razor thin margins so they shoot first and ask questions later. They don't have the resources to provide top notch customer service or investigate in depth, or prices would be much higher.
So you get what you pay for, I wouldn't move my money making sites to a service like that.
wrong comparison Larry. Now a few entrenched players (not always the best choice or cheapest) can outbid you and hide your ads AND free listing. Not many people scroll down and on top is all ads. Small business is going broke thanks to Google, as Google's earnings keep going up.
Without having to spend money it ends up being confusing for consumers because it's like craigslist and inevitably results in people not being able to find what they want.
So Google without ads, when it first started, was worse than other search engines? Nope. The advertiser that bids the highest might not be the best option for the user at all
I'm surprised they didn't have their their government emails. But they should know that if NSA really wants them, suitcases of cash will exchange hands to get the key...
So the person born in the current Gates' situation would prolly have achieved what Gates did - given that Gates is who he is because he won the ovarian lottery.
If he had a twin brother he's be, say Larry Ellison or Warren Buffet?
No doubt knowing that daddy is there for you if you fail and that Harvard will take you back is a huge relief and fall back strategy but Gates did make some amazingly good decisions. Some forty years later his company is worth close to $300 Billion and makes over $20 Billion in profit, year after year.
Ads are fine, up to a point. If the page is almost all ads and not marked clearly as so, then F that company.
But these AdBlock PLUS guys are extortionists. Google paid and their ads are "acceptable." all of the sudden.
(Disclaimer: not a fan of Google at all)
Google being the world's largest advertiser is leading the way in putting the entire business model at risk, ruining ads for everyone. They started with no ads, then a few ads on the side, then on top, then 2-5 on top and 12 on the sides, now ads everywhere and just a few results hidden by ads. Now the product search is 100% ads and I doubt that most people know (not everyone reads HN and Ars)
I posted them before but this is a disgrace and it's not receiving the needed attention from the media:
Wait until what you viewed is broadcast http://uk.news.yahoo.com/google-users-stars-online-ads-14411... all over Google, and maybe the web via Adsense ads.