http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/26/technology/26google.html?ex=1287979200&en=c7a1d522ee327fe0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Google’s attempts to acquire virtually all the information, basically in this world, digitizing it and making it searchable by anybody frightens me. Knowledge truly is power, and I see them becoming almost borg-like in their quest and thirst for information storage.

From an industry standpoint, the real estate industry has done a good job of doing the same thing as google – creating a good information source – the MLS – and maintaining control to a limited number of people. Google’s move into this arena threatens not just the MLS, but many other industries as well –

eBay, Craigslist, and classified ads. Users will be able upload all kinds of items for sale, and you’ll be able to geo-locate them, compare them, and search them via Google. Think about it. When using eBay or Craigslist, how often do you think “I wish I could search this with Google”? Recall, too, that Google has a payments service in the works.

From the above-referenced article.