Watch the video above and talk about it with a group or mentor. Learn more.
You use Google, but does Google use you? Find out how Google uses its 75 billion dollars of revenue and 55 thousand employees.
Key Points:
- Google is a multinational tech company based in the United States with $75,000,000,000 of annual revenue and 55,000 employees.
- Google has diversified its portfolio, acquiring YouTube, Waze, and Nest, along with expanding to the smartphone business with Android, researching artificial intelligence, and developing self-driving cars and wearable technology.
- Through web searches and the usage of its products, Google is able to track the global arms trade, the spread of disease, censorship, and local crises successfully.
- Google has shown it will not allow government censorship or interference from the U.S. or abroad.
- A study performed showed that a political candidate’s ranking in search results could affect an undecided voter’s opinions.
- Google has spent millions of dollars researching artificial intelligence, energy, and technology’s effects on people. As a leader in their field, the company is engrained in politics, media, and technology.
Quote This:
People at different stages of their lives are doing different things, and they’re all using Google. -Susan Wojcicki
Talk About It
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- How often do you use Google or Google products? How well could you function without it?
- Why is Google so crucial to how many people live every day?
- Are you comfortable with the amount of power and influence Google has? Why or why not?
- Do you support Google’s decision to encrypt searches? Why or why not?
- How does the ranking of a web search affect which website you visit? How is this relevant to broader issues like political elections?
- Do you think that it would be acceptable for Google to alter search results for political reasons? Under what circumstances? Explain.
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
This is part of the Let’s Talk Tech series.