Quiddity! - the SEO Blog

Not wishing to slip back into the writer's block hell that has struck me silent for the past month, I have decided to keep the old grey matter tuned and limber with the addition of an occasional midweek, short-and-(hopefully)-sweet post.

And so it begins. And where better a place to start than with the announcement yesterday that Google were set to lay undersea cables to boost international bandwidth. A story worthy of a Sphinn from my good self.

The cable is set to span the 6000 mile gap between the US and Asia that is commonly known as the Pacific Ocean. Google and the five telecoms companies that make up the consortium providing the hard cash have named this cable 'Unity'. How sweet, it's almost like it's 1967 all over again. It's always heartening when global conglomorates use such terms in their marketing.

But I digress. The technical MacGubbery for those of you with boffin blood coursing through your veins, is that this won't be just a single cable, but actually five fibre pairs (transmit and receive = ten in all), each of which will be capable of carryng 960 Gig per second. Man alive!!! That's some serious speed. Do you think they'd considering stretching it right to my front door, because at present my 2.2 Mbps connection seems painfully slow, even when I'm only trying to visit my favourite 5k site: whittlers&turnipcarvers.com.

Anyways, removing the other five companies from the equation (after all, we are concerned with search, social media, marketing etc. here), would I be alone in applauding such a noble gesture by Google?

Well I'd like to think so. When a company that is renowned worldwide for their 'altruism' makes such a gesture, which potentially benefits us all, I know that I'm not the only one wondering why. Naturally, increased internet speed will reflect well on Google, as presently that's how they make their money. But presently they are a search engine, small ads, and software company. The move into hardware and the 'means of distribution' takes them into a whole new arena.

Google dominate the search market worldwide; they practically own it here in the UK with an 88% share. They've also allegedly overtaken ITV as the UK's largest advertising channel. Not at all bad for a company that's been around for just over a decade.

This latest move could play out a number of ways, including the scenario of the search maestros biting off more than they can chew; tackling another market too soon; and resulting in the perhaps the loudest pop the internet community has ever heard, as their bubble finally bursts.

Personally, and somewhat downheartedly, I think it's their next step on the road to world domination.

On a more upbeat note, I would like to take this opportunity to wish my lovely wife a very happy birthday for today.

I'll be back Friday, with more non-conformist nonsense and the answer to the 'photo quiz' I posed in my last post, Blogger's Scourge... It's not too late to enter!