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Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

theregister.com

71–80 of 524 posts

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#71
post #11

Part of the problem is that tech products tend to be natural monopolies. If you split android off Google, it will probably just lose out against iOS in the West and some Chinese Android version elsewhere. As the article says, that's not necessarily better.

> tech products tend to be natural monopolies

Based on what evidence? Isn't the simpler explanation "VC wants big return; VC funds tech; therefore VC encourages monopolies"?

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#72

Google's "search results" are the textbook definition of a monopolized good/service. The whole thing is almost a casino, rigged to the point of absurdity. There has been nothing in my life so disillusioning as working on a Web app for a company that is more or less required to play Google's game.

>Google's "search results" are the textbook definition of a monopolized good/service.

Defining a market as a specific search engine's search results is wild. Wouldn't every search engine have a monopoly over it's results? A grocery store monopoly over its shelves?

Etc.

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#73
post #54

I feel like the US should have serious conversations about it's regulation of monopolies, especially on internet giants. The current system seems to be woefully ineffective. On the one hand, it's not clear it's necessarily, Google isn't a particularly old company it hasn't had a strangle hold for long and it doesn't look like it's business is unassailable. So why go after it at all. On the other hand, the anti-monopo…

The Apple deal had two sides engaged in monopolistic behavior. One was Google buying out that default provider option. The other was Apple, having that default option.

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#74

If what comes after is not better, then we waited too long to break this monopoly up. We either start ripping this band-aids off or we will just continually have a worse and worse internet.

It appears to me that your two paragraphs contradict each other. If we break up Google and what comes afterwards is worse, then break it up or we'll get worse? Is it worse if we do and worse if we don't? Which "worse" is worse? Or do I misunderstand your point? The whole point of breaking up monopolies is not moral principle. It's so that things get better for customers. If they don't, then what's the justification f…

Maybe so that there is at least the opportunity for things to improve?

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#75
> A fitting though unlikely outcome would be for Google to be forced to turn Chrome and the open source Chromium project over to Mozilla. That would probably involve the creation of an independent non-profit foundation that didn't reduce browser diversity – so Chrome and Firefox could continue to lead independent lives.

Okay ... that is some serious wishcasting.

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#76

How is Google more of a Monopoly than Microsoft?

Answer the question yourself by first deciding the market(s) for which you're making that assessment.

Google commands a higher market share % of search than Microsoft does of personal computing OS.

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#77

If what comes after is not better, then we waited too long to break this monopoly up. We either start ripping this band-aids off or we will just continually have a worse and worse internet.

It appears to me that your two paragraphs contradict each other. If we break up Google and what comes afterwards is worse, then break it up or we'll get worse? Is it worse if we do and worse if we don't? Which "worse" is worse? Or do I misunderstand your point? The whole point of breaking up monopolies is not moral principle. It's so that things get better for customers. If they don't, then what's the justification f…

The best time to break up Google was 15 years ago. The second best time is now.

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#78

If what comes after is not better, then we waited too long to break this monopoly up. We either start ripping this band-aids off or we will just continually have a worse and worse internet.

It appears to me that your two paragraphs contradict each other. If we break up Google and what comes afterwards is worse, then break it up or we'll get worse? Is it worse if we do and worse if we don't? Which "worse" is worse? Or do I misunderstand your point? The whole point of breaking up monopolies is not moral principle. It's so that things get better for customers. If they don't, then what's the justification f…

Maybe they meant 3x worse vs 2x worse -- as in, we're in a death spiral one way or another

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#79

Google's "search results" are the textbook definition of a monopolized good/service. The whole thing is almost a casino, rigged to the point of absurdity. There has been nothing in my life so disillusioning as working on a Web app for a company that is more or less required to play Google's game.

Your problem isn't Google, your problem is capitalism and the limited attention economy.

If you were in a position where you could just put things online and they may or may not be useful to people, you wouldn't be having this problem. But you're not; you're working for a taskmaster that demands attention or they can't justify their existence.

If Google evaporates tomorrow, there's no guarantee that your product gets customers. Indeed, in the absence of Google, most content on the internet is harder to find, not easier. The knob your overseer wants you to turn happens to be attached to Google, but when Google goes away there's going to be a different knob.

Re: Google is a monopoly – the fix isn't obvious

#80
post #43

How is Google more of a Monopoly than Microsoft?

How is google a monopoly at all? There’s competition and alternative for each of their products. And people can keep using the alternatives if they want. I can choose iOS over Android. Bing over Google. Yahoo over Gmail. Dailymotion over YouTube. Why is it a problem that google makes a superior product and people choose it ? In all studies, when consumers get faced the decision to choose freely any search engine, mos…

Google owns ~90% of the search market and if you don't play by their rules, you're out of the game. The argument is that there's nothing really superior about their technology today, just market dominance to force everyone to operate in a way that serves their _ad_ interests as opposed to search interests.
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