4 ms·

One thing I've heard is that this would help them in terms of taxes, allowing them to write off projects that don't make money, although I'm not entirely clear

One thing I've heard is that this would help them in terms of taxes, allowing them to write off projects that don't make money, although I'm not entirely clear on how Alphabet would accomplish this. That would be no joke if that was a reason to do it.

TheOsiris 11y ago
couldn't they do that now anyway with all being under the same entity. I don't think this helps with taxes (at least not in this regard). Either way, WOW!
- rrss1122 11y ago
  I see. I wasn't entirely clear on it, and I guess the source I got it from wasn't either.
Jarwain 11y ago
The first thing I thought of involved the regulations and other troubles that Google was facing in the EU. Those troubles seemed to summarize as "Google is too big and is taking advantage of its large market share". Alphabet looks like it'll fracture the google businesses more, which might help reduce the issues they're facing in the EU. But that's just my best guess
- gutnor 11y ago
  Well, Google is already quite fractured in the EU - it has something like 20 subsidiaries, one in most EU countries[0] ? That is also a common (mandatory?) setup, for multinational companies to have a local subsidiary in every country where they operate. I guess institutions like the EU must be handle that and focus on the activity independently of the fine details of the company structure, so that the restructuring would not really help or hinder. [0] http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312507044494/dex2101.htm http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/0001193125070...
  - throwaway7767 11y ago
    >> The first thing I thought of involved the regulations and other troubles that Google was facing in the EU. Those troubles seemed to summarize as "Google is too big and is taking advantage of its large market share". Alphabet looks like it'll fracture the google businesses more, which might help reduce the issues they're facing in the EU. > Well, Google is already quite fractured in the EU - it has something like 20 subsidiaries, one in most EU countries Seperation at the marketing end for ad services, or for purposes of tax optimisation, does not really alleviate any of the antitrust concerns. It's the services that matter. Google's main ad business and search being in the same company for example. So the current EU subsidiaries would not have an effect on the EU investigation, but this current plan might.
- fixermark 11y ago
  IANAL, but it seems unlikely. The Alphabet move doesn't appear to be splitting out the components the EU regulators appear to care about (search, ads, maps) from each other. If regulators are concerned about the effects of personal information consolidation, that's not changing.

TheOsiris 11y ago

couldn't they do that now anyway with all being under the same entity. I don't think this helps with taxes (at least not in this regard). Either way, WOW!

rrss1122 11y ago
I see. I wasn't entirely clear on it, and I guess the source I got it from wasn't either.

Jarwain 11y ago

The first thing I thought of involved the regulations and other troubles that Google was facing in the EU. Those troubles seemed to summarize as "Google is too big and is taking advantage of its large market share". Alphabet looks like it'll fracture the google businesses more, which might help reduce the issues they're facing in the EU. But that's just my best guess

gutnor 11y ago
Well, Google is already quite fractured in the EU - it has something like 20 subsidiaries, one in most EU countries[0] ? That is also a common (mandatory?) setup, for multinational companies to have a local subsidiary in every country where they operate. I guess institutions like the EU must be handle that and focus on the activity independently of the fine details of the company structure, so that the restructuring would not really help or hinder. [0] http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312507044494/dex2101.htm http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/0001193125070...
- throwaway7767 11y ago
  >> The first thing I thought of involved the regulations and other troubles that Google was facing in the EU. Those troubles seemed to summarize as "Google is too big and is taking advantage of its large market share". Alphabet looks like it'll fracture the google businesses more, which might help reduce the issues they're facing in the EU. > Well, Google is already quite fractured in the EU - it has something like 20 subsidiaries, one in most EU countries Seperation at the marketing end for ad services, or for purposes of tax optimisation, does not really alleviate any of the antitrust concerns. It's the services that matter. Google's main ad business and search being in the same company for example. So the current EU subsidiaries would not have an effect on the EU investigation, but this current plan might.
fixermark 11y ago
IANAL, but it seems unlikely. The Alphabet move doesn't appear to be splitting out the components the EU regulators appear to care about (search, ads, maps) from each other. If regulators are concerned about the effects of personal information consolidation, that's not changing.