Does Google Ever Help The Little Guy?

This is a really funny question to be asking – does Google ever help the little guy? The reason I think this is such a funny question is because it seems to assume that Google has a responsibility to act in a particular way which is “fair” to everyone.
I am reminded of a conversation I had once with a representative of Microsoft where I asked him why a particular product was so expensive and wouldn’t Microsoft like to have more people using their products? His answer was quite enlightening and is also relevant here: “Microsoft is in business to make money,” he told me. “They don’t do things because they care what people think of them. They do things because they believe that by doing them, they’ll make more money.”

Google is a Business

First and foremost, Google, in spite of their motto (be good) is a for profit business. They exist to make money, not to be nice people who take care of the little guy. Now, that said, in spite of the fact that they exist to make money, they may well do certain things which could help the little guy, because that also means good business.

Adsense Helps the Little Guy

One good example of Google helping themselves while also helping the little guy is the Adsense program. Prior to the creation of Adsense, websites had a tough time attracting advertising until they were able to show they had serious traffic. However, Adsense doesn’t care how many people visit your website on any given day. They simply accept you and let you put up their ads. Get enough visitors to your website and enough clicks and you’ll make money.
Of course, Google isn’t doing this to help the little guy. They do it because it allows them to reap billions of dollars in advertising through sharing revenue with millions of websites all over the world. This is what I mean by Google doing things for themselves while also helping the little guy.

Free Webmaster Tools

Another area where you can get help from Google, regardless of the size of your business is with the free webmaster tools and analytics. These services are provided free of charge to you to help you to build your site up in the rankings on Google. Of course, in spite of that, they do it because it makes sense for them – by showing you how to build your website up, they are able to get better search results for the people who want to use their services.

Bottom Line

Any big company which offers services for the little guy, including Google may well do some very good things for people. However, remember that they’re not non-profit organizations – they exist to make a profit and as such, they are driven primarily by that motivation.