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Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

cnbc.com

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Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#221

Post by lysace »

MBCook wrote: post #171
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is. Enforcement is incredibly slow (all of the monopolies Google has been ruled against for were obvious in 2014, with appeals they will not face penalties until at least 2030 for most of it), and we have a dictator running the country who will create or erase any case with the right amount of fealty payments. (Google's million to the inauguration fund just... wasn't enough.)

So much of this should have been stopped long long ago, like the purchase of Doubleclick. We’re dealing with fallout decades later and trying to rule on that.

I guess this kind of justice is bad for business.

Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#222

Post by [deleted] »

bc569a80a344f9c wrote: post #183
Workaccount2 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never link outside your domain has been rule #1 of the ad-driven business for years now. Once users leave your page, they become exponentially less likely to load more ad-ridden pages from your website. Ironically this is also why there is so much existential fear about AI in the media. LLMs will do to them what they do to primary sources (and more likely just cut them out of the loop). This Google story will get a l…

> But it is easy to see a near future where an AI agent just retrieves and summarizes the case for you. And does a much better job too. I am significantly less confident that an LLM is going to be any good at putting a raw source like a court ruling PDF into context and adequately explain to readers why - and what details - of the decision matter, and what impact they will have. They can probably do an OK job summari…

[deleted]

Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#224

Post by bitpush »

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #215

It’s surprising that the proven conflict of interest posed by other departments driving Chrome team decisions was allowed to stand. I would’ve expected at minimum for Google to be required to keep Chrome/Blink as siloed off from the rest of the company as is practically possible.

What conflict of interest? You're probably thinking of manifest v3, but Safari never supported extensions. Maybe you're thinking of third party cookie deprecation, which Safari doesnt have.

In many ways, Chrome is becoming Safari - a browser a lot of users like. So again, what conflict of interest?

Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#225

Post by bitpush »

bogwog wrote: post #196
sylens wrote: post #173

I think ultimately this is a good decision. The web has flourished in part because Google has supported Chrome so well over the years since they are incentivized to do so. You don't have to use Chrome (I don't) to benefit from this second order effect.

What do you define as "flourished"? Chrome won in part because it was better than Internet Explorer, but ironically, the internet was better back when IE had majority market share. Today, 99% of internet traffic goes to a handful of sites/apps, and the vast majority of the ad revenue on the internet goes to a handful ad companies. The internet is a SEO spam shit hole crafted in service of Google's easily gamed rankin…

> Google effectively owns the internet

What are you even saying? ChatGPT - a product that was launched in 2021 - is eating up internet search game. People have switched to that in throves, and Google can do nothing.

You're mistakenly assuming that Google has a lot of power, when in fact, they had none. People were using it because it was the superior product at the time. And now there's a better product, and people have switched to it.

Dont blame Google for Bing (and ddg's) shitty products.

Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#226

Post by bitpush »

LikesPwsh wrote: post #192
skybrian wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some examples of that for web standards?

FLOC/Cohorts API, AMP, Manifest V3, Widevine, WEI.

None of those are web standards. They are web technologies, but they arent standards unless other browsers agree to it.

So pray tell, what should the browser do? Just sit on their hands, like Firefox? That's a classic example of how a browser could be mismanaged.

Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#227

Post by vkou »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #104
supernova87a wrote: post #56

By the way, a pet peeve of mine right now is that reporters covering court cases (and we have so many of public interest lately) never seem to simply paste the link to the online PDF decision/ruling for us all to read, right in the story. (and another user here kindly did that for us below: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.223... ) It seems such a simple step (they must have been using the rul…

Never link outside your domain has been rule #1 of the ad-driven business for years now. Once users leave your page, they become exponentially less likely to load more ad-ridden pages from your website. Ironically this is also why there is so much existential fear about AI in the media. LLMs will do to them what they do to primary sources (and more likely just cut them out of the loop). This Google story will get a l…

> And does a much better job too.

A much better job for who? For you, or the firm running it?

A future where humans turn over all their thinking to machines, and, by proxy, to the people who own those machines is not one to celebrate.

Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#228

Post by bitpush »

gausswho wrote: post #216

Court's statements: 2024: "Google abused its monopoly position for search dominance" 2025: "Punishing Google now would be unreasonable because its dominance is under threat by AI" Wrist slapped. Somebody got their bag. Over to you, EU.

The whole point was the 'boy who cried wolf' - OMG, we're not able to compete with Google because they are a monopoly.

And then Sam Altman came and showed how to make a better product, and all of a sudden people are like, there's an alternative.

You're blaming Google for Bing and ddg's shitty products.

Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#229

Post by otterley »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #193
stackskipton wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, courts disagree with your assessment and so do I. Yes, AI is a threat to Google. How much a threat remains to be seen. From normies I know, most of them are just using Gemini or whatever is on Google front page. They are not starting most of their searches on OpenAI or other ones.

Courts also decided you couldn't bundle a web browser and then turned a blind eye when it's done on a different platform with draconian restrictions against even installing an alternate browser.

They didn't "turn[] a blind eye" as they weren't asked the question again. There was no legal precedent established by the Microsoft case that required all future operating systems to have a replaceable browser engine. Also, the factual situations were quite different: Microsoft had a de facto monopoly on PC OSes in the late 1990s, while Apple never had a monopoly on mobile devices.

Re: Google can keep its Chrome browser but will be barred from exclusive contracts

#230

Post by makeitdouble »

sylens wrote: post #173

I think ultimately this is a good decision. The web has flourished in part because Google has supported Chrome so well over the years since they are incentivized to do so. You don't have to use Chrome (I don't) to benefit from this second order effect.

In your opinion what would have happened if Google didn't have Chrome and just backed independent browsers to break the IE stronghold?
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