A is for: Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/
B is for: BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/
C is for: Currys http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/index.html
D is for: Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
E is for: Ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/
F is for: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/login/
G is for: Gumtree(!) http://www.gumtree.com/
H is for: Hotmail https://www.live.com/
I is for: Ikea http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/
J is for: John Lewis http://www.johnlewis.com/
K is for: KFC https://www.kfc.co.uk/
L is for: Laura Ashley http://www.lauraashley.com/
M is for: McDonalds http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome.html
N is for: Next http://www.next.co.uk/
O is for: Outlook https://www.live.com/
P is for: Peacocks http://www.peacocks.co.uk/
Q is for: Quidco http://www.quidco.com/
R is for: River Island http://www.riverisland.com/
S is for: Sainsbury's http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/
T is for: Topshop http://www.topshop.com/?geoip=home
U is for: Uk top 40 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles
V is for: Very http://www.very.co.uk/
W is for: Weather https://www.google.co.uk/#q=weather
X is for: Xbox http://www.xbox.com/en-gb/
Y is for: Youtube https://www.youtube.com/?gl=GB
Z is for: Zoopla http://www.zoopla.co.uk/
The current alphabet according to Google. What is surprising is the extent to which the originally and theoretically still free and open web space has been so clearly, completely and relatively rapidly occupied.
Google started out being a clever idea, but it is quite amazing how quickly it has become intrusive, branded and dull in its ubiquity.
It is a fudged attempt to both shrink wrap your world around your search history at the same time as being a commercial advertising platform. That combination creates a stale experience predicated on inductive reasoning; it's simply an engine of confirmation bias.
Perfect for business interests, but only those of a certain scale. There is a cloud of SEO optimising companies, marketing agencies and consultants buzzing around those interests, like flies fighting each other of a nibble of the biggest corporate dung heaps. Ultimately, however, it's an industry of unalloyed manipulation. As an aside, I do wonder whether history will look back on us purely as the generation of swerve, nudge and spin.
Not a great pair of hands in which to entrust the curation of the huge range of cultural references that our world has at our fingertips.
Were I to advise a student on how to go about research online, I find now that I would recommend that they at least try to avoid Google search results altogether.
But I know that I also have to be a realist, and I am aware that most would not pay attention to my cry! So in that case I have to as a minimum standard advise them to avoid Google headline search results as a place from which to start, maybe it's a place to input some keywords based on your initial research. Maybe the library. Or talking to someone
