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Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5B to Klarna in antitrust damages

reuters.com

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Re: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5B to Klarna in antitrust damages

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not understanding this. A company can create a new search engine and Google Search isn't obligated to even mention it. The issue is when achieving market dominance and new service is integrated into the dominant product. You clearly haven't been around long enough to have caught a lot of discussions on this topic over a decade ago.

But is searching for products a new product line, or just a natural extension of searching for webpages (many of which are about products)? Where do you draw the line between merely improving the monopoly product and abusing the monopoly?

Showing your own product like google maps or shopping at the top of each relevant search result is likely over the line, maybe its ok if its down in the results, still high not always number 1.

But for example if they're behind a user choice like a click after your search is done, ie click shopping or maps because you want to use googles products in this case, then its likely not over the line. If its still over the line would they be required to unbundle products by for example using different domains? Would that also apply to things like facebook marketplace then?

Re: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5B to Klarna in antitrust damages

#62
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the free services are just part of the ad sales funnel. Never forget, the consumer never benefits, they are only the cattle to be fattened up. Them not launching in Europe gives the local market a chance to build up its own players. China was very successful in this thanks to the Great Firewall.

The consumer, who have never paid google a cent despite using their services daily for the last 20 years, likley spending a solid portion of their waking life on one of google's platforms, has never benefited? And you think local players are going to look at users with this comically detached worldview and be like "Yeah, we want to build services for that group of people to use"?

You have paid a lot, if not in money. You paid with your data, that Google read from your emails and searches, and sold for money.

Re: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5B to Klarna in antitrust damages

#64
post #3
post #2

$1.5B is significant, but the bigger question is whether this actually changes how dominant platforms rank their own services. Is this real accountability for anti-competitive behaviour, or just another cost of doing business for Big Tech? My cynicism is tell me that unfortunately it is the latter.

Vouched, I feel similarly. (I can’t possibly understand this being downvoted. The downvote button isn’t an “I disagree” button.)

From HN guidelines:

> Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.

and yes, downvoting is a perfectly fine disagree button, what else do you think it is

Re: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5B to Klarna in antitrust damages

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The consumer, who have never paid google a cent despite using their services daily for the last 20 years, likley spending a solid portion of their waking life on one of google's platforms, has never benefited? And you think local players are going to look at users with this comically detached worldview and be like "Yeah, we want to build services for that group of people to use"?

You have paid a lot, if not in money. You paid with your data, that Google read from your emails and searches, and sold for money.

You load google's ads and trackers?

Re: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5B to Klarna in antitrust damages

#67

Klarna is a buy-now-pay-later company, right? How do they compete with google?

This case was about PriceRunner, a price comparison platform that was suffering from Google prioritizing its own platform in search results. Klarna just happens to be the owner.

Re: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5B to Klarna in antitrust damages

#69

People aren't going to like this, but taking a page from Apple, Microsoft, Sony (iPhone, Xbox, Playstation), the solution to constant antitrust charges stemming from competitors on your platform....is to kick them off the platform. You can't be anti-competitive if you have no competitors.

Pretty sure Google would loose its search business if Google search only contained websites owned by Google.

Because of the introduction of AI overview, click-through rates are dropping like crazy. Up to 70% of Google searches now end without any clicks to third party websites. So most search users already stay completely within Google's ecosystem.

Re: Swedish court says Google is to pay $1.5B to Klarna in antitrust damages

#70
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO the fines do have an effect - Google now withholds a lot of launches from the EU, sometimes temporarily until they have time to have lawyers check them against DMA requirements, but mostly permanently. Ironically the part of Google most likely to persist in launching for the EU is Ads, since money is at stake. All the free, consumer-benefiting services are most likely to be curtailed in the face of aggressive reg…

All of the free services are just part of the ad sales funnel. Never forget, the consumer never benefits, they are only the cattle to be fattened up. Them not launching in Europe gives the local market a chance to build up its own players. China was very successful in this thanks to the Great Firewall.

>Them not launching in Europe gives the local market a chance to build up its own players

Exactly! This is what is genius about Trumps tariff strategy, as you correctly point out. Blocking Chinese EVs gives a chance to bully up local players.

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