Search Scandals: Is Google crossing the line with Google Print?

Google Print is a project by Google that aims to digitize library books by scanning them without their author's express permission, destroying the concept of copyright and permissions. Google had earlier announced a self-imposed penalty till today. As is clear from a post made on Official Google Blog yesterday, Google is "in the process of resuming scanning."

Google thinks they can do everything they want. Despite the lawsuits brought against the company in recent past by Author's Guild and AAP (publishers.org), Google decided to continue the project.

Blue Magnolia made a post asking "Who do Google think they are?." Following is an excerpt from the post:

I'm not sure what there is to say about Google and their digitisation project, except do they think the rules don't apply to them? I don't think I've ever seen such blatant disregard for the law.

Whether or not Google intend only to make small portions of the texts available to users, they're missing the point that the very act of making the unauthorised copy is illegal. Now they seem to think that out of print and out of copyright are the same thing.

I totally agree with Blue magnolia. Google is not above the law and they need to realize this. The sooner they realize, the better for them.

In related news, Google has been "cleaning" the web by kicking off innocent mom and pop websites from its index. Google search results seem to be full of sites *they* consider authoritative.

As far as relevancy is concerned, Google's results are full of junk for many sectors. Heck, not even a single page is returned from Google when searching for [adsense feedback].

Faeriebell writes in a post titled Google's Jagger Update and Christmas Shopping:

Google's strategy has shifted to advertising. Instead of delivering the quality search results they became popular for, they are instead delivering very poor search results, which drives users of their search engine to click on the advertisements on the right side of the results. It makes Google money. A lot of money.

For the past two updates, Google has targeted small mom and pop websites that are trying to make an honest living on the Internet. Companies that felt Google's burn in the Bourbon update are still reeling, their rankings forever lost. While Bourbon targeted directory and travel sites, Jagger1 and Jagger2 have been equally decimating to honest retail and online shopping websites. Google's timing is impeccable, travel season rolls around and they penalize travel sites, forcing them to pay for advertising. Shopping season rolls around, and shopping outlets are in Google's sights.