“Search is going to be considered a public utility,” says Kevin Ryan of Motivity Marketing. As he tells WebProNews, it could happen sooner rather than later.

He believes this is a result of Google controlling access to all the world’s information and calls it a “natural monopoly.” Ultimately, it will likely lead to the regulation of search.

At the time of the taping of this interview, the European Commission had recently opened an investigation into the search giant. During that same time frame, Google also received a license to sell electricity. Incidentally, this information was not widely publicized.

Because the U.S. supports private enterprise, Ryan does not think it will see as much regulation as other countries that do not strongly support the private sector. He goes on to indicate that the regulation will impact the natural, editorial side of search more than it will impact the paid advertising side.

“It’s going to get really, really interesting really fast,” says Ryan.

Unfortunately, most politicians in Washington do not understand interactive media and all the factors involved with it, such as privacy. For this reason, Ryan advises the search industry to spend less time branding and more time keeping up with what is happening in the nation’s capital.

Do you agree with Kevin Ryan and believe that search will become a public utility?