Google and Local Laws: Compliance As a Hedge Against Uncontrollable Costs
May 27, 2021
I read “Google CEO Sundar Pichai on New Social Media Rules: Committed to Comply With Local Laws, Work Constructively.” At first, I thought, “Google is waking up and smelling the La Colombe Corsica Dark Roast.” Then I considered this statement in the write up:
“So, we fully expect governments rightfully to both scrutinize and adopt regulatory frameworks. Be it Europe with copyright directive or India with information regulation etc, we see it as a natural part of societies figuring out how to govern and adapt themselves in this technology-intensive world,” he said, adding that Google engages constructively with regulators around the world, and participates in these processes.
Sounds good but is this the beginning of a Google for the fracture-net?
Also, Google’s enthusiasm for conforming is a recent development. Google wanted to make the world a better place—once. A decade ago, Google seemed to suggest that China had to change the behavior of its government. That appears to have triggered a distancing of Google from China. Then the Dragonfly, China specific search system came and possibly went.
With regulators in a number of countries taking action to deal with US technology companies which prefer to break things and apologize after the fact, Google is adapting.
Why?
First, the cost of being Google is high and those costs are quite hard to control.
Second, Google’s grip on personal data and online advertising revenue is weakening with age. Amazon is in the game, and I have heard that product search remains Amazon’s go to horse for the Madison Avenue derby.
Third, Google has become Google because there has been [a] zero recognition of what the company does and [b] the thrill of Googling has blunted interest in regulating the company.
The same can be said of other US technology giants.
This article about the new Google is less about Google wanting to follow local laws and more about what Google has to do to maintain its revenue streams.
The costs of being Google are high in business and financial terms. The enthusiasm for going local is more about getting into certain markets and keeping the data and money flowing into Google. A failure to do this means that Google’s costs will become an interesting challenge for the high school science club’s management methods.
Stephen E Arnold, May 27, 2021
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
