Distressingly absent from this list is the company that cheerfully collects and sells even more data that Google about the average American's life and collects MUCH more of their money: Amazon.
Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
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Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#72I don't see how after the FTC came up empty the DOJ would fare any better as arguable the sherman act is a much tougher route, and the competition landscape has changed to google's detriment (amazon ads, facebook, etc). Anyway the article is quite scarce and the source is the WSJ so they might be trying to amplify some stuff or even advocate for it.
The DOJ has significantly more resources and investigative power.
The FTC act has broader powers in these cases as they can consider effect on competitors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Trade_Commission_Act_o...
The DOJ enforces the sherman act, which is useless here (no consumer harm).
Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#73Relevant tweet from a Yelp SVP, who propagated many allegations of anticompetitive behavior in Google Search: > :) https://twitter.com/lutherlowe/status/1134621790720995328
Maybe someone will investigate their mafia-like treatment of small businesses as well.
Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#74Can 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.
Can you please find this source? It seems to me like there’s quite a story here if your idea is even remotely true.
Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#75Distressingly absent from this list is the company that cheerfully collects and sells even more data that Google about the average American's life and collects MUCH more of their money: Amazon.
Collects money, yes. But collects more data? I'm dubious.
Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#76Good. To quote an old friend who worked for Google: "I'm worried that if the rest of America knew what we were actually doing here they would literally come here and kill us..."
Sounds too self-obsessed, and that claim suits any big corporation without context.
Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#77Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
That's fantastic-that employees feel they can express resentment without reprisal, however I'm left feeling that my question wasn't really answered-regarding the sentiment quoted and the context being discussed via the article linked.
"I'm worried that if the rest of America knew what we were actually doing here they would literally come here and kill us..."
This is a VERY specific and very interesting response to the goings on of your employer. My company frequently has feedback surveys prompted by HR for employee satisfaction, I still hear through back-channel mediums a lot of gripes and kvetches that were uttered over libations with the understanding that the discussion doesn't leave the bar.
I'm inquiring how insulated individuals at Google are from even that level of 'resentment' born dialogue between colleagues and coworkers.
Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#79If true, this will be a landmark case and should scare FB and Amazon as well. Personally, I think this is a good thing and it's past time for the government to at least set some boundaries, but there's no telling how it will play out with the current administration and amount of lobbying dollars flying around.
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.
Amazon is not a "trust" in the strictest historical definition, but it's a amoral and terrifying company with incredible reach that frequently can and does snuff any chance any competitor has of using anything else.
If Google is bad for using AMP to try and drive publishers to AMP hosting, then how is Amazon not even worse for ramming crazy terms down publisher's throats while buying or undercutting every other shipping and shopping system in the country? Amazon's pretty much dismantled and eaten the entire American book industry, it's in mid gulp of the American consumer shipping industry, it's already business critical via AWS for a majority of American businesses, and now it's turning to selling "AI" products to government and law enforcement.
As for Facebook, I think maybe Facebook isn't a monopoly. But they shouldn't be allowed to buy Youtube or Twitter.
Re: Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
#80Can 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.
I love YT for the instructional videos (how to repair this or that). I would miss that.
I think YT just in the last couple of years went into the black. That’s a lot of bandwidth and they don’t have as many paying subscribers as NFx.