Google’s Illusion of Options

I am a sponge. I wake up to Google. . every morning as I groggily flip open my Mac, my world registers to me through Google news. My reality is absorbed through headlines. Google covers everything I need to know with millions of options and one screen to let me know what those options are. Google tells me what is important and what to focus on.

The information superhighway is dominated today by one search engine. Need to know something? First you will type Google and likely follow that up with Wikepedia. Satisfaction right? Google gives quick answers and embraces every curious inkling a person might have with just one click.

Google masks limited options with thousands of the same stories. People feel like they have a lot of choices when they are offered what they are led to believe is a wide variety of online news sources. The Internet brings more information to more people than any form of communication ever has. Forget newspapers, online is easier. Online news may be saving the environment, but at the cost of information monopolization.

I am given little incentive to look for other online sources because Google has everything covered. After seeing the main headline regarding the election campaigns, I am offered all 1482 articles on how Hilary is surpassing Obama by a long shot. But do I scroll down to read every source’s version of this message? Of course not, I already have the fix I need to feel sufficiently up to date with world events.

When it is time for me to reflect on the world I live in, I turn to Google. It is to most, myself included considered to be the ultimate search engine. I can find the most important events taking place both home and abroad just by glancing at one categorical page of headlines. The problem is that the majority of Internet users, myself included, gage their focus through the lens of a single search engine. What I understand to be of the most primary importance in the world, I had no decision in selecting.

Google reaches the world:

In what languages and regions is Google News available? 

We have more than 40 regional editions of Google News in many different languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. Each edition is specifically tailored with news for that audience, so just scroll down and select the appropriate one from the list if the edition you are reading isn’t right for you. If we haven’t included the region or language you’re looking for, check back soon. Our goal is to offer Google News to all of our users throughout the world, so you can expect to see lots of additions over time.

Africa: South Africa
Asia: 中国版 (China) – 香港版 (Hong Kong) – भारत (Hindi) – India – 日本 (Japan) – 한국 (Korea) – 台灣版 (Taiwan) – ישראל (Israel) – العالم العربي (Arabic) – Россия (Russia)
Oceania: Australia – New Zealand
Europe: België – Belgique – Deutschland – España – France – Greece – Ireland – Italia – Nederland – Norge – Österreich – Portugal – Schweiz – Suisse – Sverige – U.K.
North America: Canada English – Canada Français – Estados Unidos – México – U.S.
South America: Argentina – Brasil – Chile – Colombia – Cuba – Perú – Venezuela