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Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

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Re: Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

#171

Post by abritinthebay »

marrs wrote: post #96
abritinthebay wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with the general point you are making - the Internet as a whole had not reached a general populace tipping point until after Google was a major player in search. I think we, as technologically included people, tend to overestimate how old the internet is to most people outside of maybe early email usage. Also the implosion of companies (like Yahoo) is a factor here. If Yahoo hadn't been really stupid th…

I think you forget just how much better at search Google was. Google's replacement will probably be much better at privacy.

No, I don't. It really was amazing and a no-brainer to switch. That said Yahoo could have still stayed ahead - they nearly bought Google after all.

Remember though that accurate results is a clear market winning feature - we've seen that the average user quite simply doesn't care about privacy that much.

Re: Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

#172

Post by abritinthebay »

eru wrote: post #39
abritinthebay wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with the general point you are making - the Internet as a whole had not reached a general populace tipping point until after Google was a major player in search. I think we, as technologically included people, tend to overestimate how old the internet is to most people outside of maybe early email usage. Also the implosion of companies (like Yahoo) is a factor here. If Yahoo hadn't been really stupid th…

> [...] the Internet as a whole had not reached a general populace tipping point until after Google was a major player in search. MySpace vs Facebook happened after Google rose to dominance. Also, Google Video vs YouTube.

MySpace was at it's largest in 2005 - at that point Google was nearly 40% of online search traffic. It had been a major player for a while - hell it had already had a huge IPO by that point.

I think you forget just how FAST Google blew up. In 1999 they were basically nothing - by 2004 they were the largest search company on the internet.

Facebook wasn't even a thing until 2004 - after the Google IPO. So no, Myspace vs Facebook didn't happen after that.

Also Google Video was just plain crap. It's like comparing Google+ to Facebook, it was never going to last.

Re: Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

#173

Post by rtpg »

bduerst wrote: post #150
rtpg wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US practices a huge amount of protectionism as well. The reason that the Americans are driving Japanese cars is that they were built in the US (which happens because of the protectionism). Ford doesn't build cars in Japan. The end result is good for most people (consumers get more choice, jobs are still in the country).

You're forgetting the bailouts for the American auto industry and the ghost town known as Detroit. Protectionism stagnates technological development because of the artificially stymied competition. Once the major players from hyper-competitive markets inevitably enter the protected market, then they outperform the resident industry there. Protectionism props up non-competitive markets, which is disruptive for citizen…

That's a good point.

The auto industry might not be the best place for where you want to apply protectionism. But one pretty good usage is when the local industry is in its infancy.

It's pretty well accepted that the IMF forcing so many African countries to drop agriculture-related tariffs has been among the biggest failures of modern economics.

Re: Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

#174

Post by M2Ys4U »

roymurdock wrote: post #121
IBM wrote: post #33

>Although she uses Google frequently, Vestager says it doesn’t cloud her view of the case. “Congratulations for being big, but don’t misuse it. For Europeans, this is very fundamental,” she says. >That might be the scariest thing of all for Google. It isn’t dealing with an antitech ideologue or a competition czar consumed with cementing a personal legacy. It faces a straightforward prosecutor in a hostile political c…

So Vestager is a straightforward politician that is actually doing her job and has no other agenda than supporting local businesses and protecting the interests of the consumer? This is fantastic. I wish we had some more people of her caliber in US politics. Reflects well on the EU that she was elected.

>Reflects well on the EU that she was elected.

It would, if hers was an elected position :P

The European Commission is a bit of a strange beast. As is the rest of the EU, to be honest.

The Commission consists of the President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (effectively its foreign minister), and 26 other commissioners.

The President of the European Commission is elected by the European Parliament[0], and the High Representative is then chosen by the European Council[1], with the consent of the Commission President, who cannot be from the same country as the President and will be one of the Commission's Vice Presidents. The other 26 Commissioners are then appointed by the unrepresented Member States, so they each have one Commissioner.

The Commission President then assigns each of the Commissioners (except the High Representative) a portfolio and then the entire body is subject to a confirmation vote by the European Parliament before it can take office.

[0] It can't just vote for anybody, though, the European Council technically has to propose a candidate "taking in to account" the results of the results of the election to the European Parliament, although in 2014 (the first time they had the opportunity since the rule was introduced) Parliament successfully managed to establish the precedent that the Council must nominate the designated candidate ("Spitzenkandidat") of the European Political Party[2] that won the most seats at the election in the first instance.

[1] The European Council is the body consisting of the heads of state and government from the EU Member States, not to be confused with the Council of the European Union, which consists of ministers from Member State governments, and the Council of Europe which is a distinct organisation.

[2] European Political Parties aren't political parties in the same way they are at national levels - they are more coalitions or federations of national political parties - and they are also distinct from political groups in the European Parliament.

Re: Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

#175

Post by marcosdumay »

scott_s wrote: post #147
marcosdumay wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is one of the less protectionist countries in the world. The fact is that we live in a kafkan place where everybody seems to think that letting consumers choose what they want to buy hurts them, that delivering goods make a country rich, but receiving payment makes it poorer, and that a government picking winners on every market is the best way to ensure competition. You'll certainly see several protectionist…

By what metric are you claiming the US is less protectionist than most other nations? We have a lot of farm subsidies and tariffs and limitations in imports, and I have never heard any claim that the US somehow does significantly less than other nations.

Interesting, that kind of data is much easier to get than I expected.

From the Word Bank data, there were 40 countries with lower median tariffs than the US, 4 tied with it, 71 with higher tariffs, and 98 without data in 2013.

Between the countries with lower tariffs there are extremely rich ones, fiscal paradises, EU countries (that have zero tariffs between themselves), and 4 poor ones.

Between the countries with higher tariffs there are basically the poor countries, and Australia. I don't think I've seen any other rich country there.

So, yes, the US is within the countries with lower tariffs. But also yes, every other country that you'll think of has probably lower tariffs than you.

Re: Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

#176

Post by M2Ys4U »

weddpros wrote: post #168
Riesling wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How many Europeans use Google? 90%. That's democracy: the people of Europe gets what it wants. Regulations are not trying to fix "what is wrong with google". They are trying to keep the competition going, which ideally results in a better product for the consumers.

When dealing with privacy, they're definitely saying what's wrong. Right to be forgotten. Retribution of newspapers for headlines... That's not about competition. Not at all. Also, Google is not a monopoly. There are plenty of alternatives (Yahoo/Bing/etc). Google is not even trying to buy them.

>Also, Google is not a monopoly. There are plenty of alternatives (Yahoo/Bing/etc). Google is not even trying to buy them.

Whether they are a monopoly (or not) is not really relevant. Monopolies aren't even prohibited per se.

But Google most certainly are in a dominant market position, and under EU competition law that means they must not abuse that dominant position.

Re: Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

#177

Post by M2Ys4U »

weddpros wrote: post #128
9872 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering they are not using any violence, I think this falls a bit short of the very definition of war.

Coercion is most often the perspective of violence. Why would Google pay fines then? Because violence will be applied to make it comply even if it's a foreign entity.

If you follow that logic then simply taxing American companies on their EU business dealings is a declaration of war.

Re: Google’s $6B Miscalculation on the EU

#180

Post by bla2 »

ftoste wrote: post #179
bla2 wrote: post #132

Good reporting. Shows how much the EU is owned by the publishing industry.

yes, also the unconscionable betrayal by the modern day benedict arnolds-msft, yelp, getty images, and iac enjoying their bratwurst and lederhosen, while lady liberty weeps in silence.

Hm?
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