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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

#241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now fast forward a decade. Google drop their "do no evil" motto and jack up ad prices. Online store now pays 10 times as much for their ads and have to raise prices to cover the costs. This is just not true and not how Google's ads work. Google has a bidding system. You don't have to pay their prices if your ads aren't profitable. You can pull out. You can go somewhere else. You can try other forms of marketing. Yo…

> You can go somewhere else. Yeah, right.

Come on Facebook is right there. Google is a $200bn ad company, Facebook is a $130bn ad company. You don't even have to change your marketing strategy at all, both companies will happily swallow all your dollars to make ads.

You can make a case that replacing Google with a bunch of bespoke ad vectors isn't a real alternative because they don't have Google's reach but Facebook does.

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

#242
If forced to breaking up Google should stop giving free services in EU including OS, Browser, Map, Search and any other free service. And charge EU users for each of these services which are top or only one in respective categories. These services are free due to Ad business which is best and can make money to fund other free services. Let EU pay for crappy services built by their own mediocre companies like Nokia which can't compete in market so force regulations.

What is EU doing to to curb European monopolies ? Oh wait there are not many.... cause they can't innovate and compete. Easy to be complain than build something to compete.

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

#243
post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, being able to read smart contracts and audit transactions on the blockchain is how everyone knew FTX stealing customer funds from years ago. Yes in fact! Anyone who looked into it knew. Maybe Wall Street and VCs were duped, but the crypto industry itself saw the train wreck coming from a mile away and distanced themselves from the start. That's why when the inevitable happened, the mainstream were pumping out…

>> Yes, being able to read smart contracts and audit transactions on the blockchain is how everyone knew FTX stealing customer funds from years ago. > Yes in fact! Your first link is someone saying "I told you so", but there's no mention of reading smart contracts or auditing blockchain transactions. Instead it's something like, SBF seemed very fishy to him. Ex, "if you actually listened to him speak, it was obvious…

Those are fair points.

Here is someone using blockchain analysis in 2021 https://old.reddit.com/r/solana/comments/qs3hb5/alameda_buyi...

My memory of general sentiment is different, but again you can't prove something like that. As far as hard data, all I can think to offer is this breakdown of FTX's creditors by country, compiled from the bankruptcy filing.

https://nitter.net/pic/orig/media%2FFiMwSncXEIMlb70.png

The creditors are 2% USA customers, 93% offshore customers, 5% unknown. The USA did not trust FTX at all.

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

#244
post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google deserves a lot of recent criticism but at the same time I think they provide an important counterbalance to Apple and Microsoft. I especially don’t want to see Android go away as the only competitor to iOS.

“Google is bad but don’t take away my counterbalance against Apple/MS?” , bit of an odd conclusion. Breaking up a monopoly is always good, it will give us consumers more choice. Gives them less power of politicians. Plus Android is open source so I think you got nothing to worry about.

Absolutely agree with your statement, but also want to add that [Google further guts the Android open source project](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36319991) is a thing.

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

#245
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine if a supermarket not only sold goods but also controlled all supply chains, decided on the prices of every product, and owned the only transportation system in town. All the while, it keeps track of every item you've ever bought or looked at, and how much you're willing to spend on groceries. The supermarket then uses this data to influence product pricing, availability, and transportation routes...And it's t…

I'm not pro Google, and I'm finally un-googling my life. But I don't think it is great to compare food to ads, one is required to live.

Not sure your analogy stands from a corporate standpoint.

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

#246
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine if a supermarket not only sold goods but also controlled all supply chains, decided on the prices of every product, and owned the only transportation system in town. All the while, it keeps track of every item you've ever bought or looked at, and how much you're willing to spend on groceries. The supermarket then uses this data to influence product pricing, availability, and transportation routes...And it's t…

I'm not pro Google, and I'm finally un-googling my life. But I don't think it is great to compare food to ads, one is required to live.

Un-googling, I found out, is easier than un-Microsofting or un-Facebooking. MS because of Office and FB because of WhatsApp.

Writing this from a yet to be un-googled Pixel phone...

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

#247
post #13

Should the US break up LVMH given how dominant they are in luxury goods?

Can you give a reasonable argument why they shouldn't? I'm not sure you're making the point you think you're making.

It's not that they shouldn't but that they won't because every government is skittish to kill their own golden calves.

It's easy to penalize foreign companies because it's not your country's income that's affected.

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

#248
post #84
post #20

it would be better if they broke the ad exchange from the rest. a google without the ad revenue doesnt make sense

They need to cap how many ads get served. Currently they can serve up ads for every possible search query typed or inject any number of ads surrounding every page you visit, so my grandma can barely use her phone without touching an ad.

Speak for yourself.

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

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google deserves a lot of recent criticism but at the same time I think they provide an important counterbalance to Apple and Microsoft. I especially don’t want to see Android go away as the only competitor to iOS.

Nobody suggested killing Android (and they couldn't do it in the first place even if they wanted to). It's about adds. I hope this is a step towards seeing adds for what most of them are: lies, propaganda, manipulation, and a pointless arms race that distracts efforts from improving products. In general, I expect this to go nowhere, of course. However, the fact that the EU can dare suggest such things fills me with h…

The ad business supports android development.

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

#250

If forced to breaking up Google should stop giving free services in EU including OS, Browser, Map, Search and any other free service. And charge EU users for each of these services which are top or only one in respective categories. These services are free due to Ad business which is best and can make money to fund other free services. Let EU pay for crappy services built by their own mediocre companies like Nokia wh…

Making shit up, and getting angry about it is the internet way I guess.

Anyway https://twitter.com/clothildegouj/status/1668561531435470850

European companies are also going to be regulated.

They don’t have many monopolies because they have a completely different way of approaching business and their position in society. Also when it happens, they get split apart way way before you hear about it.

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