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"If some people have more votes than others, then surely this undermines
democratic fabric on which Google is said to be based."
Another crack in Google's claim to be democratic is
fact that some votes are worth more than others. The higher a site ranks on Google,
higher
value of its votes. This seems reasonable, a high ranking site must have useful content, (to have been linked to by other sites, although this page may, indeed, have purchased these links!) therefore it is likely to link to another site with valuable content. However, it is not
fairness of Google's system that this article is questioning, it is its claim to be democratic. Weighted voting cannot exist in a truly democratic system.
Overall, Google's system is indeed 'uniquely democratic', in
sense that is unique compared to any democratic system I know of. With; multiple voting, some votes being worth more than others, buying votes and more, it is extremely doubtful that Google is indeed
democracy of
Internet.

Thomas Jenkins is owner of www.JKomp.com Web Design company.