A Romp through Google History

May 22, 2016

If you are unsure of Google’s history with the folks who allege the Alphabet Google thing fiddles search results, you will want to read and save “Why Google’s Monopoly Abuse Case in Europe Will Run and Run.” The main point of the write up is that legal processes can drag. I came away from the write up with this thought, “Lawyers involved in the legal issues will have quite a bit of work.”

The challenge the regulators in Europe have is that Google has become the go to solution for many online activities. Like Facebook and Amazon, the behavior of online services seems to operate like a monopoly. Users like the predictability of having a familiar way to perform certain tasks.

As the management of Alphabet Google changes, the drift toward pervasive functions continues. Individuals may not be aware how incremental decisions impact other organizations.

The write up points out:

critics have argued that the corporate rejig and change of leadership potentially gives the search titan plausible deniability: if regulators conclude that Google has harmed competition, then Pichai could say this hadn’t happened on his watch.

Interesting. The problem in my opinion is that the Google has been rolling down the same highway for more than a decade. I am not sure when a rest stop or breakdown will occur. How have Qwant and Quaero fared?

Stephen E Arnold, May 21, 2016

Comments

Comments are closed.

  • Archives

  • Recent Posts

  • Meta