No Ads In The Sidebar

Google would like to scan every book in existence so that you, the researcher, can have access to the most obscure of knowledge.

It sounds so glorious, but then why would the Smithsonian and the Boston Public Library say no thanks to Google? Are they trying to hide something?

All they'd like to hide, or avoid altogether, are the adverts that appear in the sidebar when anything is searched via Google. That's how the mighty search engine makes its money, and Wall Street is keenly aware of just how much money they make.

The Boston Library Consortium is aware that Google exists to make money for its shareholders. As for the highly laudable notion to put all the books on line, that's fine. But Open Content Alliance is out there with the same plan, except for the bit about generating income from advertising revenue.

Several New England universities are allowing this alliance to digitize their vast libraries, making content available to all, and without having to wade through ads popping up. Imagine scrolling through an image out of John Adams' library and being barraged by ads for Sam Adams ale or John Adams on E-bay? Rather annoying when you're busy working and the last thing you need are distractions.

When Google does the scanning work, they also want to have the exclusive rights to the words. If you're searching for an old book, you can only find it on Google, which would tend to make Google even more the search engine of choice. Why bother with something else when you'll not find what you want there?

By going with the Open Content Alliance, libraries are telling Google that they're more interested in broadly disseminating their information. The World Wide Web is forever open and free, as far as they're concerned, without restrictions. Thanks but no thanks, Google. Anyone with a computer get have at their collections. That's what the Internet does best.