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European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

europa.eu

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Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#671

Post by heavenlyblue »

lerpa wrote: post #664
bad_user wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you are free to use other companies products It doesn't work like that. Because of their market dominance, there really are no alternatives. This is a combination of companies simply giving up on competing with Google, but also in terms of SEO, Google is the only one that matters for publishers and advertisers drive profits towards Google as well. Mobile? They now own it. And btw, if you'll mention DuckDuckGo or Bi…

> It doesn't work like that. Then don't use any. You are not entitled to it, nobody has any obligation to have a service that does what you want.

By the same logic Google could also abandon the EU market. But they most probably will not. So Google should stick with what they get.

Pure pragmatism.

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#672

Post by chimeracoder »

allendoerfer wrote: post #636
chimeracoder wrote: post #514

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or you should be happy, that the EU actually uses their regulatory power to benefit the consumer no matter how big the company they're going against is. So is the EU going to fine Apple for not allowing iPhone users to access third-party browsers? At least Google doesn't force any lock-in with their platform here (the browser or search engine) - you're free to use any search engine you want.

You have answered your own question: They don't do it, because Google, their competitor, does allow it, so there is choice.

> You have answered your own question: They don't do it, because Google, their competitor, does allow it, so there is choice.

...what?

Google doesn't force any lock-in on their platform, yet the EU fines them. Apple does, but the EU hasn't taken any action.

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#673

Post by allendoerfer »

chimeracoder wrote: post #672
allendoerfer wrote: post #636

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have answered your own question: They don't do it, because Google, their competitor, does allow it, so there is choice.

> You have answered your own question: They don't do it, because Google, their competitor, does allow it, so there is choice. ...what? Google doesn't force any lock-in on their platform, yet the EU fines them. Apple does, but the EU hasn't taken any action.

It is not platform vs. platform, it is iTunes vs. Playstore (not a monopoly, choice => no action needed) and Google Search vs. nobody essentially (overwhelming dominance, quasi monopoly => action needed).

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#674

Post by bad_user »

lerpa wrote: post #664
bad_user wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you are free to use other companies products It doesn't work like that. Because of their market dominance, there really are no alternatives. This is a combination of companies simply giving up on competing with Google, but also in terms of SEO, Google is the only one that matters for publishers and advertisers drive profits towards Google as well. Mobile? They now own it. And btw, if you'll mention DuckDuckGo or Bi…

> It doesn't work like that. Then don't use any. You are not entitled to it, nobody has any obligation to have a service that does what you want.

Well, if it's my backyard you're talking about, a company doing business in it might as well obey the house rules.

Google isn't entitled to doing business in the EU either. If they do, then they need to follow the law.

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#675

Post by i_cant_speel »

Denzel wrote: post #582
makomk wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should scare you. The EU just used their regulatory power to force the world's biggest search engine to make their user experience worse in order to benefit other companies. Before Google penalized all the vertical search sites, doing a Google search for certain kinds of products was a terrible experience; page after page of crappy information-free autogenerated sites hoping to make $$$ from ads and referral fees…

There's a clear difference between what Bing and Google are doing. Please don't mistake the facts: 1. The EC is not asking Google to make their user experience worse. 2. The EC does not have a problem with sponsored search results. Google's user experience is the generic algorithm that determines what is the most relevant result. Google deliberately did not subject its own comparison shopping service to that algorith…

But it's Google's website. Why shouldn't they be able to promote their own products on their site?

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#676

Post by jabv »

sbov wrote: post #524
jabv wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It is generally conceded in our age that a critically strategic producer has an obligation to the public for the sake of the common good." And what happens if Google says, "f * it, we're not providing a utility, we're not taking traffic from European IPs anymore"? I am no anarcho-capitalist, but I really think more folks should read Atlas Shrugged.

Even if Google did this, and got past the shareholder lawsuits, what would happen? Nothing much. Someone else would step in. Greed and free markets makes the "Atlas Shrugged" scenario nonsense. I'm sure there are millions of smart people who would love it if all the other smart people stopped producing. All it means is more market share for them. I'm guessing you're posting this as someone who is fully sucked into th…

Thanks for the response.

I use Google fairly heavily through work and my personal email, but IDK about "fully sucked into" - I have no smartphone, don't use GCal, etc.

Rather than lauding Google, I meant to criticize the idea that the public has a right to a private service.

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#677

Post by jabv »

matt4077 wrote: post #401
jabv wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It is generally conceded in our age that a critically strategic producer has an obligation to the public for the sake of the common good." And what happens if Google says, "f * it, we're not providing a utility, we're not taking traffic from European IPs anymore"? I am no anarcho-capitalist, but I really think more folks should read Atlas Shrugged.

Then they'd be as stupid as some random Ayn Rand fan on the internet, and wouldn't be running Google.

Thanks for the response.

I disagree with Rand on many important issues.

I think your reply is tantamount to an ad hominem fallacy.

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#678

Post by adamnemecek »

i_cant_speel wrote: post #675
Denzel wrote: post #582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a clear difference between what Bing and Google are doing. Please don't mistake the facts: 1. The EC is not asking Google to make their user experience worse. 2. The EC does not have a problem with sponsored search results. Google's user experience is the generic algorithm that determines what is the most relevant result. Google deliberately did not subject its own comparison shopping service to that algorith…

But it's Google's website. Why shouldn't they be able to promote their own products on their site?

Because it's anti competitive behavior.

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#679

Post by xpaqui »

honestoHeminway wrote: post #645
disiplus wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

on what is this based. the EU commision distroyed roaming between EU members, and im pretty sure they had all the lobiying from mobile operators to not do it.

Its called democracy- its when a goverment pushes the interests of its people.

That's not what democracy is. Also the EU has been shamed as undemocratic since their representatives are not elected by popular vote. People do vote for who represents them as a country in the EU but I doubt any of them had a choice in the Google fine.

Re: European Commission fines Google €2.42B for abusing dominance

#680

Post by sqeaky »

jolic wrote: post #650
sqeaky wrote: post #605

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One was an operating that had a monopoly that was nearly impossible switch away from and was bundling software to destroy specific competitors. The other is a web page with tons of competitors, many of which work well, deciding what their own computers after you specifically requested them to do so.

No, the point is that Google is using their dominance in search, which isn't easy to switch away from, to compete in price comparisons. Google just having a price comparison tool isn't the problem, it's when they include it as a part of search. Which is using their dominant position. While whether you can switch might be important from a user standpoint it's not necessarily a factor from a market standpoint. It's mor…

How does starting a comments with blanket refutation help encourage open discussion? Why do people, including you start a comment with "No,"?

Type bing or duckduckgo in and you have switched, how is that hard?

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