Tomorrow's Spin

Tomorrow's Spin will deal with an issue I probably didn't do such a hot job of articulating at Annenberg, namely the unintended consequences of Google's creation of an inbound link-based currency. Let me go on record before it runs:

1) I'm not saying Google is evil. Sometimes unintended consequences come from noble intentions. I believe this is one of those cases. 2) I believe there is a lot more good that came from Google's doing this than bad. I'll go so far as to say that it's the best thing that happened to hyperlinks since the web itself. 3) The worst thing Google could do now is nothing. Ideally, it will develop better technology for separating the spam from the real content. If it does nothing, either it will leave itself vulnerable to a competitor or communities will remain vulnerable to spammers seeking free Google juice. Both outcomes suck.