Live data from Hacker News

Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

wsj.com

61–70 of 440 posts

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#61
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When will Apple stop sending me desktop notifications about switching to Safari?

I use Macs and iProducts all the time, and I've never seen one of these. What do they look like? What do they say?

https://twitter.com/pfooti/status/527301101523963904?s=19

From 2014 though.

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#62
post #7

Can someone knowledgeable in this area lay out some of the potential anti-trust points that could be shown by the probe?

This WSJ story has details about the FTC recommendation to sue Google (overruled by the commissioners at the time). They accidentally sent the WSJ every other page in a botched FOIA request. https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-the-u-s-antitrust-probe-...

How do I read it? Do I have to subscribe?

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#64
post #7

Can someone knowledgeable in this area lay out some of the potential anti-trust points that could be shown by the probe?

This is just speculation, but I read somewhere recently that alleged that Youtube wasn't the gift to the world it appears to be. While I love Youtube for the most part (Free, High Quality), it is strange that we haven't seen much competition. Maybe it's a loss leader for Google and nobody else can afford the expense, or maybe they're doing something shady to make sure nobody else can afford to compete.

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#65
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would this have any relevance to FB and Amazon? I realize a lot of people on HN don't like what these companies are doing with their data, but this lawsuit is not about privacy at all so I don't see how it relates to those 2 companies.

Ant-competitive practices? Facebook buying up any and all rivals like WhatsApp and Instagram? They are a juggernaut and shouldn’t be able to own all social media.

At the time of buying, people were mocking FB for being delusional left and right.

After FB manages these acquisitions well, we are now like "FB is evil and anti-competitive".

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#66
post #38
post #33

While I think an antitrust suit against Google would be a waste of time, they really need to stop recommending Chrome every time you do a Google search with a different browser. Just stop, that will not play well to a jury.

Your reply almost immediately says you think a jury could be swayed by argument, sentiment or both. Does that not mean an antitrust suit may actually be reasonable, judged by a potently prosecutor? I think you meant "I don't want them found guilty" which is a different thing. If you really think there is no case to answer I don't think you understand what an antitrust case is about. It's about market dominance and an…

Any antitrust theory against Google would be pretty abstract given that they don’t charge for either search or Chrome. But the pop up trying to get you to switch to Chrome when you go to Google search is pretty much what you’d put in a textbook to illustrate leveraging a monopoly in one sector to gain market share in another. It’s extremely concrete and intuitive. That doesn’t mean it makes the case, of course. But it’s a great starting point for building the overall case.

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#67
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Googler, that's a sentiment I have never heard expressed, nor have I felt anything even remotely like it myself. My guess would be that most people would feel a lot better about the company if they could see how the sausage gets made. At least, judging by the reactions of my family members when they ask me concerned questions and I explain how things work, that's what would happen. That being said, it will be in…

As a Googler, that's a sentiment I have never heard expressed I've seen a lot of Googlers coming here lately, professing to be Googlers and stating "this hasn't been my experience". Asked genuinely: as someone inside the company-with much better access to sentiment, opinion and company culture than I could ever hope to have, is Google truly that open and transparent to employees that you actually had an expectation t…

Many many googlers constantly advocate their resentment to the company. The company gives more avenues for this than any other company in the world.

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#68
post #33

While I think an antitrust suit against Google would be a waste of time, they really need to stop recommending Chrome every time you do a Google search with a different browser. Just stop, that will not play well to a jury.

When will Apple stop sending me desktop notifications about switching to Safari?

I believe you should update your OS, this was removed 2 versions ago.

However, if you like to disable the notifications: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/153379/how-do-you-...

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#69

Dear Justice Department: Take a look at google AMP and how they use it to strong-arm publishers by linking it to search placement. You'll find some stuff.

People don't seem to understand how this stuff works in the US, Google has full editorial control over their search results protected by the first amendment and that right was affirmed in court time and time again:

https://searchengineland.com/another-court-affirms-googles-f...

If you don't like their free no lock in service go elsewhere, and that's why there is no sherman act case here, which is why if the DOJ actually does anything here it would be a waste of time and resources.

Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google

#70

Questions from someone who doesn't know a lot about antitrust law, in case someone knowledgeable cares to chime in: To what extent does antitrust law require specific intentional or knowing conduct? Is there some "knew or should have known" standard that would require Google to explain why they didn't anticipate or investigate some suspiciously favorable placement of Google products/services/affiliates? Or can Google…

It requires no intent, and iirc the argument of Standard Oil before their censure was precisely that they didn't mean to stifle trade, they were just better than everyone else at it. The Supreme Court said they didn't really care why or how, they cared that it was a monopoly in fact.

But historically anti-trust suits have usually been about what happens when negative sentiment towards American mega-corporations grows too high. Essentially the rules are different for big companies. In reality, most of the things companies need to do to avoid anti-trust cases are performative. Even more ironically, the super rich at the tops of corporate pyramids often end up profiting from these sorts of actions. All an anti-trust suit can do is mandate companies fracture into multiple legal entities. Usually the same owners retain their ownership, only now over dozens or more of companies which each individually pay upwards.

What's even more distressing about these laws is that they're quite unusable against entities that are at least as frightening, like Amazon (and historically Walmart). Amazon is the omni-company, and now they're gonna get into consumer telecom too. And because they're lateral as opposed to vertical and they choked out the competition during a recession, they don't even have to pretend the're offering a square deal to their resellers.

Post reply on HN