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EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

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Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#51

Post by olau »

Fyrezerk wrote: post #10

These rulings for a company of Google's stature/importance are always funny to me. How quickly would public opinion change if Google decided to just shut off their service in the EU for a day? Monopolistic breakups that serve the public's best interest are one thing. But how many people actually care that Google might represent a monopoly? Does it actually affect people negatively if the result is a positive online u…

I think that's why they're trying to go about it in a way that still allows Google to provide the search.

As for the benefit, when Google and Facebook jack up the prices of ads, it's probably increasing the prices of many things you buy on the internet.

Just as an example, I recently tried to run an ad on Google. There are no competitors in this space at all. It cost me > 1-2 USD per click. 10-15 years ago I also tried to run an ad on Google. When there were no competitors, you could have the ad for something like 0,04 USD per click.

Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#52

Post by Etheryte »

donatj wrote: post #36
Etheryte wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think either one of those points are true. The result of unregulated Google is most definitely not a positive online experience, it's rampant tracking and hoarding of information, both of which have had very real negative real world consequences. Similarly, the world does not "run on Google", what does that even mean? Gmail is but one email provider out of many. Google search is the largest player in the spac…

> it's rampant tracking and hoarding of information, both of which have had very real negative real world consequences Namely? I can’t imagine any real world consequences that aren’t positives? I am better served for my preferences?

Civilians have been bombed in Ukraine based on gathered and clustered geodata. Stalkers have bought their victims' data online and gone to their houses. Foreign intelligence agencies have blackmailed government officials based on their online activities. You can find an absurd number of examples for all of these and more.

Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#53

Post by senko »

YetAnotherNick wrote: post #22

Google will rather split up the internet by pulling out of Europe than follow this. And isn't ads the only profitable business Google has? If they sell it, there Google search, Gmail etc couldn't exist.

> Google will rather split up the internet by pulling out of Europe than follow this.

Citation needed.

Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#54

Post by Gareth321 »

WastingMyTime89 wrote: post #14
flexie wrote: post #2

Before anyone makes the argument that the EU should have no jurisdiction over an American entity, please remember that Google sells its services in Europe. It's well within the jurisdiction of the EU to regulate how anyone does business here. Google Ireland alone had a 50B euro turnover. The breaking up of monopolies used to be in the toolbox of American antitrust policies, back when America enforced antitrust legisl…

> The breaking up of monopolies used to be in the toolbox of American antitrust policies, back when America enforced antitrust legislation on its own companies. The US Justice Department sued Google in 2020 and is asking for pretty much the same disinvestment for pretty much the same reasons. The EU is trailing the US by two years here. I'm eagerly awaiting the trove of patriotic comments which will undoubtedly follo…

> The US Justice Department sued Google in 2020 and is asking for pretty much the same disinvestment for pretty much the same reasons.

While true, 2.5 years later there is still no action. In that same time period, the E.U. released the largest anti-monopoly technology law in its history, the Digital Markets Act. This will take effect near the end of the year and impact all major tech companies. I think it's clear that U.S. antitrust is ineffective at present.

Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#55

Post by malermeister »

YetAnotherNick wrote: post #22

Google will rather split up the internet by pulling out of Europe than follow this. And isn't ads the only profitable business Google has? If they sell it, there Google search, Gmail etc couldn't exist.

They already have a lot of their revenue tied up in their Irish entity. An exit might not be feasible.

Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#57

Post by aurareturn »

_vere wrote: post #37
Fyrezerk wrote: post #10

These rulings for a company of Google's stature/importance are always funny to me. How quickly would public opinion change if Google decided to just shut off their service in the EU for a day? Monopolistic breakups that serve the public's best interest are one thing. But how many people actually care that Google might represent a monopoly? Does it actually affect people negatively if the result is a positive online u…

Allowing a giant supercorperation to exist is generally not in the interest of the public. Google has been using the incomparable amount of money they have in many ways that do not serve the interests of anyone but themselves. Allowing one company to own the most visited websites, the most used browser, the most used advertising tools + marketplace, half of the mobile market and much more has not really brought us a…

You can say the same about LVMH in the luxury goods market. I don't see Europe trying to break up one of their own companies.

Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#58

Post by marginalia_nu »

pmoriarty wrote: post #48

"The Commission is concerned that Google’s allegedly intentional conducts aimed at giving [Google’s ad exchange] AdX a competitive advantage and may have foreclosed rival ad exchanges." So the goal is for there to be more competition among advertisers? That might help ad purchasers (ie. mostly corporations), but consumers are still going to be screwed as this does nothing to stop the spying and advertising that are w…

Competition is good. Fracturing the market means it's harder for any one actor to have all the information, and encourages the industry to look for other models.

Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#59

Post by ceejayoz »

nisegami wrote: post #39

As expected, the comments here seem generally in support of such a move. But, it is really unclear to me how such a move would improve my life or the lives of most typical users. Genuinely open to having it explained to me.

> The EU has previously found Google guilty of “systematically favoring” its own shopping comparison service, abusing its Android market dominance by bundling its search engine and Chrome apps, and preventing AdSense customers from accepting advertising from rival search engines.

The sites you frequent are more likely to stick around if they have more revenue options, and we all benefit from competition in the search and browser markets lest we wind up with IE6 all over again.

Re: EU suggests breaking up Google's ad business in preliminary antitrust ruling

#60

Post by pb7 »

holoduke wrote: post #32
Fyrezerk wrote: post #10

These rulings for a company of Google's stature/importance are always funny to me. How quickly would public opinion change if Google decided to just shut off their service in the EU for a day? Monopolistic breakups that serve the public's best interest are one thing. But how many people actually care that Google might represent a monopoly? Does it actually affect people negatively if the result is a positive online u…

I would love to see Google leaving Europe. I bet within a few weeks proper maybe even better replacements appear in Europe. Maybe even one of mine :) Google is an ad company. None of its services are critical to maintain a stable society. I would even argue that Europe would be better of without the American tech giants.

Europe would return to the dark ages if all American tech companies pulled out overnight. But it is a humorous thought that the only way there can be European alternatives is if there are no American companies to compete against. What is it about Europe that puts it so far behind the US and Asia in innovation?

>None of its services are critical to maintain a stable society.

Except Android, Maps, Search, Gmail, YouTube, Docs...

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