Hello and welcome to Seriously, I'm Femi Martin. Now if I say vacuum cleaner, sticky tape and internet search engine to you,

my guess would be that you thought of three brands that have become synonymous with the job

they do. Don't worry, this podcast isn't about hoovering or wrapping up presents,

but it is about the impact that one service provider may be having on our world.

In this edition of Seriously, Rory Kethlin Jones

explores Google's uniquely powerful role at the center of today's information society.

So I've got to make this radio documentary about the power of Google or more precisely the Google search algorithm.

That's the computer recipe I suppose which delivers the results on your screen when you search for

something with Google. It's really complex and most of its secret, but does it have

too much influence over our lives? Well I better start by doing what I usually do when I have to find stuff out.

In fact, what a lot of people do first, ask Google.

So what are the top three results I get if I do this search?

How powerful is Google?

Cora, is Google the most powerful company in the world?

Bloomberg, is Google the world's most powerful company?

YouTube, how powerful is Google?

So that's what we get from Google.

Let's find out what some humans think about that question.

The Google algorithm is one of the most important things that's ever happened in human history.

As a source of influence over people, I can tell you without doubt there has never been anything

like this in the history of humankind.

Nothing. Could the Google algorithm be described as the most powerful

...