http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/technology/05regulate.html

After today’s discussion of information networks and general breakdown of the internet, I was curious to look at the ongoing battle between the Internet giants Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. During this morning’s lecture we spent some time discussing how the internet was a type of directed network, which included some pages that did not reciprocate the sending of information. Instantly I thought of these corporations and their dominant presence in the internet. These sites serve as perfect examples of “gatekeeper nodes” that we touched on in Week 1. Because of their market share, they control the vast majority of internet navigation and communication.

As noted in the economist article above, the battle between these sites started to heat up in 2005. Google clearly has been in the driver’s seat for the past year, being the most visited site on the internet. In an effort to catch up, Microsoft had planned to merge with Yahoo so they could take on their rival. This plan is briefly outlined in the Times story listed above. The plans for the historic merger went awry when Yahoo refused the offer from Microsoft this past week. But what if it had gone through? As the article points out, if Microsoft had taken on Yahoo’s market share we may well be in the midst of another antitrust scandal. In the corporate world today, mergers are commonplace and industries are being increasingly controlled by large companies. However, when examining the world’s primary means of communication, I am leery of such polarization. Today’s conversation really made me examine how much I rely on the internet for information and day to day communication. It is just interesting to think how people’s access to the internet would be changed by such a dramatic polarization in the market. Imagine a network with only one or two gatekeepers to the worlds greatest information source. While it seems like a smart business move to make, the outcome could be remarkable. Giving these corporations an unprecedented level of power over our primary information network could dramatically alter the way people communicate in today’s world.