COM125 Week 2: What would I do without you, Google?

I do not know about anyone else, but when I am on the internet, it is for entertainment. Mostly, I use this technology to search for current information, friends, and other non-pressing issues. Occasionally I use the internet to do research on a topic when I have a term paper, but most of the time it is very casual. No matter how many times I use the internet throughout a day, I would say that 85% of the time, the first thing I do when I sign into my computer is go to a search engine. I believe that these online web directories have shaped the use of the internet by creating necessary organization of information on the World Wide Web.

This video is a fictional yet objective view at how Google works. I thought that it displayed in an inventive way that it appears Google and other search engines can actually think as well as respond.
The start of search engines came in 1990 when McGill University developed Archie, a place where files could be explored. This first search engine was nothing like the ones you and I use today, it was only updated about once a month and it was used to search for FTP archives which allowed file transferring between two computers to take place. After the World Wide Web came into the picture, other Web directories developed to help organize Web pages available to internet users. One problem that arose when search engines were developed was something called "search ranking"; this is the order in which pages appear after a search has been performed. Many companies have fashioned software that improves their search ranking to better assist and support the best results the users of their search engines desire.
In today's society of an "Internet centered world", everything is centered around search engines. One reason may be that there are so many websites on the Internet, it is extremely complex to remember every single one, what information is available on it, and how the information can be used to make you more knowledgeable. I believe that companies expect internet users to search for their websites, not necessarily know them right off the top of their head and because of this, company's may have ties with certain search engines. Going back to search ranking, if a company pays a search engine to put them in a high search ranking, more people will visit their website, become more knowledgeable about the company's products, and in the end their business will become more profitable. Many corporations now solely rely on the internet as a way to make money.
In the year 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 41% of households in the United States had internet access. (Guess how I found this information? A Google search!) With this number increasing rapidly every year, it is no wonder why there is a direct correlation between the number of households with internet access, and corporate advertising on the internet.
Without search engines available to internet users, most people would get frustrated with the internet and finding information; information as small as movie show times, to global changing information such as the fall of the Roman Empire. Search engines provide a fast and easy way to locate any website you are seeking, or on the other end, not knowing what website would have the information desired, they provide a list of appropriate websites matching your search.
In other words, to sum up this post, search engines make my life easy and I am thankful for that!!!