Google Toolbar is Spyware

I see many discussions on SEO boards each month with people debating whether Google should hide PagerRank on their toolbar. As usual, everyone is missing the point when it comes to Google’s grand strategy. First you need to ask this question – Who installs the toolbar?

Well you can bet everyday searchers are not installing the Google toolbar and and most don’t even know it exists.. Go ahead and ask your non-techy friends if they installed the Google toolbar and watch their eyes glaze over. Don’t even bother asking them if they know what Pagerank is – they don’t and you don’t have time to explain it to them . So that leaves two groups of Google Toolbar users. SEOs and Link buyers and sellers. Well one group, since SEOs are buying 90% of all paid links.

Most SEOs have the toolbar installed so they can do a quick check of a their clients and other page’s Pagerank. What they don’t realize is the toolbar is basically spyware to track SEOs – Google’s biggest enemy. If Pagerank goes away, SEOs would uninstall the toolbar and Google would lose all that juicy information on SEOs. Information like what sites SEOs visit, where their paid links are, what links they are checking, what searches they are performing and who they are doing SEO for would all be lost if they eliminate Pagerank from the toolbar.

Google has the horsepower to track these things and their toolbar is the greatest piece of spyware ever invented. Think about it, the people Google wants watch the closest, are the ones that are voluntarily installing this chunk of spyware called the “Google Toolbar” so they can see that little green PageRank bar.

Take my advice. If you buy or sell links or are an SEO, uninstall the toolbar NOW so Google can’t track your web behavior. There are plenty of websites out there that can give you a webpage’s PR – USE THEM. Sure it’s an extra few clicks to get pagerank, but it sure is better than giving Google and open invitation into your business. Don’t be lazy, be smart.

-Jazz

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Category: Google