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Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

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Re: Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does your definition of an "ulterior" motive require commercial benefit? Are you suggesting that, if this man had a secret reason for going after Google, and that reason was that it was part of his plan to boost his popularity and name recognition with local conservatives by shitting on "liberal" companies in order to boost his chances of winning a seat in the Senate, it would somehow not count as an "ulterior mo…

I don't see anything in the currently-linked piece that speaks to an ulterior motive? Surely you're not just suspicious because he's a Missourian? Having served in public office for about ten months, Hawley has very little record as a public official. He was a law professor before running for this office. Trying to read the fact that he's a Republican as some sort of secret clue to his motives is foolish. I, for one,…

Ah, sorry for the confusion, the suggestion of motive came from the original link, which was apparently changed after my comment from: https://www.axios.com/missouri-ag-starts-antitrust-consumer-...

I agree that going after big companies is better than just being "tough on crime" and trying to get conviction numbers as high as possible regardless of harm. And I have no idea whether this particular charge is fair or not. I wouldn't normally read into his political leanings as automatically implying motive, but they're relevant here given that Hawley just announced his run for US Senate a few weeks ago and now has followed up on that by going after a company that is generally thought of as being on the Left.

Re: Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't. I use a mix of Google services and non-Google services, and I've never had a hard time finding a good competitor for a Google tool.

You've found a good competitor to Google search?

DuckDuckGo

Re: Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've found a good competitor to Google search?

Bing at least claims to be. Is Bing enough worse that it isn't a usable alternative?

I've been daily-driving Bing for a few years now, and the only time I switch to Google is for searches on obscure programming errors. I've otherwise had no issues finding anything.

Re: Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

#65
post #52
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Tesla is anywhere close to market dominance. Their problem may be more long-term survival than achieving a monopoly in my view.

They are leading in the niche, but that's besides the point: market power refers to the ability to raise prices above what is truly competitive, which they certainly have to some extent while not being a monopoly.

> ... market power refers to the ability to raise prices above what is truly competitive, which they certainly have to some extent while not being a monopoly.

Have they really, though? I mean, a Maserati is also priced very highly. Certainly much higher than what is "truly competitive" for a luxury vehicle. But I don't think anyone would call them a monopoly. Likewise, Tesla is selling a unique product within a class, and some people are willing to pay more for that product. In other words, they have a product with a competitive advantage, and that allows them to price higher than the competition. This is healthy and normal elastic demand. I mean, price was a big reason the Model 3 presold in a week about three times the entire Model S volume.

Re: Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've found a good competitor to Google search?

Bing at least claims to be. Is Bing enough worse that it isn't a usable alternative?

I used it for 3 weeks in china, it is really bad compared to google imo. I could not wait to switch back.

Re: Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't. I use a mix of Google services and non-Google services, and I've never had a hard time finding a good competitor for a Google tool.

You've found a good competitor to Google search?

This question is loaded. Google does not index search results of other search providers and it never has, because it would create a really bad and potentially buggy user experience (Click through 10 search results to get the real link (if you don't go in a full loop!))

However if you search "Google Search Alternatives" on Google, it displays a large, pronounced box at the top, declaring "Here are 12 alternatives to escape your reliance on Google for all things search."

Re: Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

#69
post #52
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Tesla is anywhere close to market dominance. Their problem may be more long-term survival than achieving a monopoly in my view.

They are leading in the niche, but that's besides the point: market power refers to the ability to raise prices above what is truly competitive, which they certainly have to some extent while not being a monopoly.

They created a little niche in large market but it's pretty easy to avoid them if you don't like their cars.

Re: Missouri Attorney General launches investigation of Google

#70
post #55

Yay! I am happy about this. I feel as if there are a ton of monopolies and trusts today that stifle competition. Does anyone else feel similar?

I don't. Why do we want or even trust government to decide for us that a company is too big and needs to be smaller or that a company should conducts it business in the way that the government wants it to. As long as a company isn't somehow forcing me to use it services, I'm free to go elsewhere. If you don't like Google don't use it. The fact that you desire something from Google that it isn't giving you (searching…

Comcast is a good counterexample that basically destroys this entirely naive line of thinking.

In industries where huge capital costs are the barrier to entry, the market is not open or free, and requires regulation.

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