Listening to this week in google it struck me how the newpaper industry may be sewing the seeds of their own destruction over their reaction to developments such as google news.

It also struck me that google really does own the ability to shape our consciousness in that if content doesn't show up in google you could consider that it doesn't exist.

That gives google huge power to shape current events and how they are covered.

It's great though that services like twitter offer alternatives so that google doesn't have complete control. I don't really think google try to sway their search results in anyway. If they did it would get out and this would destroy their main strength. Their focus on truth.

Either way it's fascinating to see this tale develop. Will google eventually let its power go to its head. Particlarly if they ever lose their dominance and revenue stream.

But then they've been such a synergist for equality and open standards. I feel that this will ensure their strength for a long time by creating partnerships.

Just a thought