What Companies Should Google NEVER Buy?

Chris Mesinna provides a rant about how Google is evil and their integration of Dodgeball with Google Accounts is the latest sign of their evilness.

"Don?��Ǩ�Ѣt say I didn?��Ǩ�Ѣt warn you, but now when you try to log into your favorite neighborhood spyware, you?��Ǩ�Ѣll be greeted by a prompt to login with either your old skool Dodgeball account credentials or your Gauth account (the one that you use for Docs, Gmail, Gcal, Orkut, or other Google Services like YouTube (whoops ?��Ǩ�� did I just say YouTube?)."

After reading this, I commented on Chris' site mentioning that I couldn't think of any companies Google could buy and integrate with my Google account that would really freak me out. Having now given it a bit more thought, a few may come to mind:

1. Fair Isaac: Would I want the company behind credit scores to have access to my online purchase behavior?

2. Blue Cross: Do I want Blue Cross tracking how often I go out to eat? Would my Dodgeball profile cause my premiums to skyrocket?

3. The Government: okay, Google isn't going to buy the government, but the government would sure love access to Google's data. Here is one perspective on that from Mother Jones:

Over the years, Google has collected a staggering amount of data, and the company cheerfully admits that in nine years of operation, it has never knowingly erased a single search query. It?��Ǩ�Ѣs the biggest data pack rat west of the nsa, and for good reason: 99 percent of its revenue comes from selling ads that are specifically targeted to a user?��Ǩ�Ѣs interests. ?��Ǩ?�Google?��Ǩ�Ѣs entire value proposition is to figure out what people want,?��Ǩ�� says Eric Goldman, a professor at Silicon Valley?��Ǩ�Ѣs Santa Clara School of Law and director of the High Tech Law Institute. ?��Ǩ?�But to read our minds, they need to know a lot about us.?��Ǩ��

What do you think? Are their other companies or industries that would be poor fits for integration with Google Accounts? What comes to mind? Or, does the benefit outweigh the privacy concerns when it comes to credit scores, health records, or government intelligence?

Further Reading: Michael Arrington recently posted a time line of Google's previous security woes.

Comments

1. Posted by: michael bernstein on November 1, 2006 6:53 PM:

Let's see: Doubleclick, Verisign, any DRM software shops, any spyware shops, any QOS hardware companies, any network security appliance companies, any voting machine companies like Diebold, any alternative currency companies like e-gold, or any offshore tax-haven banks like those in the cayman islands or the like.

I would be very interested to see them acquire one or more secure micropayment companies, and/or hire David Chaum.

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