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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What specific topic from previous chapters does Battelle talk about in illustrating his examples?

2. What year does Google finally decide to go public and sell company stock?

3. What is the stated goal of almost every major search player?

4. What is the "SEC?"

5. In one example that is cited, what does a son learn about his mother from an Internet search that causes the two to stop talking?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the concerns outlined in Chapter 8 about privacy and Internet search?

2. Considering everything discussed throughout all of the chapters, do you think that the original vision for the Database of Intentions has been realized? Why or why not?

3. What are some examples of options that Google offers to help businesses work within its new system to recover lost business?

4. How can clickstream analysis lead to the further development of search?

5. Explain why Google's paid search ads are more effective than traditional forms of advertising, such as radio, television, etc.

6. What is Google's motto and what is Battelle's opinion on it?

7. What is click fraud and how does it affect search businesses?

8. How does Battelle's personal story, as told in Chapter 12, lead him to an important discovery?

9. Describe the two things that Google does to meet the challenges of its rapid growth, specifically the person it hires and what Larry Page and Sergey Brin create to guide the company.

10. Briefly describe why certain places are intentionally kept away from search access, and give one example.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The pay-per-click advertising system revolutionized the way search engines generated income. Bill Gross is the person credited for bringing it to the online forum.

1) First, break down Bill Gross' business model from the basic concept to its specific application to online search engines. Include all data from the book as necessary. What made it a natural fit for the Internet? How did Gross build GoTo.com, what is his original intention with it, and how did that lead to one of the most important advertising schemes in the history of Internet search?

2) Examine how Page and Brin use Gross' model to create AdWords and take their search engine to new levels. Explain in detail what three elements were brought together to make Google the biggest and most successful search engine. Was this a tribute to their ability to piece everything together, or did they just take Gross' plan and run with it as some believe?

3) Describe Page and Brin's decision to reject pay-per-click when Gross first approaches them. Were they correct to do so? Why did they reject it? What does it say about them and the plan itself that they adopted it one year later? Also mention the lawsuit and whether you think Page and Brin got away with paying less than they should have considering what pay-per-click did for Google as a company.

Essay Topic 2

1) Looking at the original design for Internet search and seeing it implemented, do you think that society is better off for having it? Use situations from the book to explain why or why not, including the ways the Internet in general has made life easier and the ways it has been misused. The points should tie back in with your main position of the overall effect online search has on society being either positive or negative.

2) Use the technology advances and discoveries in the book to determine how influential it is becoming. Is there too much technology in the world, not enough, or just the right amount? Is it progressing at the right pace, too fast, or not fast enough?

Essay Topic 3

The Search follows the story of Google mainly, but it also provides interesting backgrounds for other Internet companies as well. This includes Yahoo, whose story has a bigger lesson within it. Write about the history of Yahoo, from the very beginning and the original intention of Yang and Filo, to how it grew into one of the biggest search engines on the Internet. Also, explain the importance of Yahoo's story in the sense that the company's discovery was accidental. What does that say about objectives and ways they can turn out differently than what was originally intended? Use examples from either your own life, people you know, or other stories that have similar courses. Be sure to use the book to supply the necessary dates and information.

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