PAN has a number of search clients operating in different vertical markets. So it's with great interest that we're following Google's refusal to honor a subpoena for search query information issued by the Bush administration. Two good articles: an AP story describing the situation, and a CNET piece with some in-depth analysis.
Obviously this could have a cooling effect on search as a whole, but there could be deeper implications for certain players in the search business. Take, for instance, social search engines and tagging sites that rely on user-uploaded content. If the government can get personal information from random Google searches then the new, "Web 2.0" community-driven businesses are at risk because the knowledge shared by experts within these communities might never make up onto these sites--who would want to put themselves out there like that? Which is a shame, because there is some real promise in these models
Look for a lot of follow up stories on the Google situation over the next few days. Also--one point worth noting; why does the indecency issue bubble up (this Google thing is supposedly about porn) whenever the Republicans are in a tight spot? Or is that just a coincidence?