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I keep hearing about this so-called backlash, the government is going to do this, the EU is going to do that. Yet Google/Facebook/Amazon et al's grip grows ever

I keep hearing about this so-called backlash, the government is going to do this, the EU is going to do that. Yet Google/Facebook/Amazon et al's grip grows ever tighter. The bottom line is people have chosen these companies as the gatekeepers to the internet. I don't like it the least bit. Especially since it makes my life harder as a web site operator. I have to do everything I can to please the mighty Google and if I don't I'm as much as erased from the internet. It didn't used to be that way but that's how it is now. These companies have massive power and what the EU or anybody else plans to actually do about it is beyond me. We'll see.

Kenji 9y ago
That's because there is no such backlash. Those big companies will cause governments to create laws but those laws will only destroy tiny competitors, thus securing the position of the big players.
ianai 9y ago
Indeed the sharks have no teeth.
uhohspaghettio 9y ago
I suspect the backlash won't come from government, but from the "people". It will also not be directed exclusively at big tech, but at all tech - and to an extent all technicians. I don't see this occurring for another 5 years or so, but when (if) it does, it will not be pretty.
- iainmerrick 9y ago
  Why do you expect that to happen? Most people use Facebook, Amazon and Google all the time and are perfectly happy with them, ads included. (Edit: added a couple more big companies) Is there an example of another business sector that was radically changed due to massive public outcry? I can't think of any. There's tobacco, maybe, but that was a long slow process of government regulation, and the tobacco companies are still around.
gnarbarian 9y ago
I think decentralized apps built on cryptocurrencies have potential to wrestle some of that control back. https://d.tube/ https://d.tube/ is a decentralized youtube. https://cointelegraph.com/news/arcade-city-decentralized-blockchain-based-answer-to-uber https://cointelegraph.com/news/arcade-city-decentralized-blo... Arcade city is a decentralized uber. The same could be done for ebay and amazon. I honestly believe dapps will bring us the free (as in speech) internet we were promised in the 90s.
- craftyguy 9y ago
  Decentralization and cryptocurrencies are two completely different things, even if one 'uses' the other to some extend. The converse is not true. I agree that decentralization is a potential solution here, e.g. services like Matrix, Mastodon. Cryptocurrencies are currently a 'get rich quick' fad that won't help with winning back the internet.
  - gnarbarian 9y ago
    The real benefit is the underlying technology. A currency is more of a basic proof of concept for a blockchain application. There are a few reasons blockchains are a game changer for decentralized apps. 1) It's vastly more difficult to cheat. (remember lying bittorrent clients which would break the rules to improve your download speed by spoofing your ratio?) 2) There is a built in system for compensation. 3) Writing a distributed application is very difficult. Platforms like Ethereum, Lisk, and EOS have done the most challenging aspects of this for you and provide varying levels of control vs ease of use via their APIs. Valuations of the currencies are dramatically inflated right now but no matter what happens to price in the long term the underlying technology will be revolutionary even if every currency fails.
moron4hire 9y ago
> I have to do everything I can to please the mighty Google Like what? What specific things are you having to do today that you wouldn't have had to do in, say, 1998? What sort of behaviors have you learned get you penalized by Google? Because I've kept running all my sites in the same, unassuming, no-SEO way for the last 20 years and they've always been fairly well ranked in their particular niche topics.
- nathanasmith 9y ago
  > Like what? What specific things are you having to do today that you wouldn't have had to do in, say, 1998? Not going to go into my strategy. I'll just say what I do works for me. Until it doesn't. Like in March when Google made the so-called "Fred" update. Sites that had been running for years just like yours went from the 5th position on page one to somewhere on page 10. Some sites went from page 10 to page 1. On the whole it was a net negative with no rhyme or reason to it, i.e., some lower quality sites ranked higher and vice versa. By the way, none of these sites are spam, are cloaked, aren't https, no PBN crap, etc. They were just there one day and gone the next. Many many people had the same experience. If you didn't then that's great. My point is not woe is me, down with Google. My point is Google being a gatekeeper has an immense amount of power and a subtle change by them can mean the difference between being "on the internet" and off of it. Fortunately I have many sites so I'll survive but a lot of people don't.
mivo 9y ago
In a way it is ironic. Twenty years ago, the great fear was that governments would regulate the internet. Now we hope that the governments will regulate the internet.

Kenji 9y ago

That's because there is no such backlash. Those big companies will cause governments to create laws but those laws will only destroy tiny competitors, thus securing the position of the big players.

ianai 9y ago

Indeed the sharks have no teeth.

uhohspaghettio 9y ago

I suspect the backlash won't come from government, but from the "people". It will also not be directed exclusively at big tech, but at all tech - and to an extent all technicians. I don't see this occurring for another 5 years or so, but when (if) it does, it will not be pretty.

iainmerrick 9y ago
Why do you expect that to happen? Most people use Facebook, Amazon and Google all the time and are perfectly happy with them, ads included. (Edit: added a couple more big companies) Is there an example of another business sector that was radically changed due to massive public outcry? I can't think of any. There's tobacco, maybe, but that was a long slow process of government regulation, and the tobacco companies are still around.

gnarbarian 9y ago

I think decentralized apps built on cryptocurrencies have potential to wrestle some of that control back. https://d.tube/ https://d.tube/ is a decentralized youtube. https://cointelegraph.com/news/arcade-city-decentralized-blockchain-based-answer-to-uber https://cointelegraph.com/news/arcade-city-decentralized-blo... Arcade city is a decentralized uber. The same could be done for ebay and amazon. I honestly believe dapps will bring us the free (as in speech) internet we were promised in the 90s.

craftyguy 9y ago
Decentralization and cryptocurrencies are two completely different things, even if one 'uses' the other to some extend. The converse is not true. I agree that decentralization is a potential solution here, e.g. services like Matrix, Mastodon. Cryptocurrencies are currently a 'get rich quick' fad that won't help with winning back the internet.
- gnarbarian 9y ago
  The real benefit is the underlying technology. A currency is more of a basic proof of concept for a blockchain application. There are a few reasons blockchains are a game changer for decentralized apps. 1) It's vastly more difficult to cheat. (remember lying bittorrent clients which would break the rules to improve your download speed by spoofing your ratio?) 2) There is a built in system for compensation. 3) Writing a distributed application is very difficult. Platforms like Ethereum, Lisk, and EOS have done the most challenging aspects of this for you and provide varying levels of control vs ease of use via their APIs. Valuations of the currencies are dramatically inflated right now but no matter what happens to price in the long term the underlying technology will be revolutionary even if every currency fails.

moron4hire 9y ago

> I have to do everything I can to please the mighty Google Like what? What specific things are you having to do today that you wouldn't have had to do in, say, 1998? What sort of behaviors have you learned get you penalized by Google? Because I've kept running all my sites in the same, unassuming, no-SEO way for the last 20 years and they've always been fairly well ranked in their particular niche topics.

nathanasmith 9y ago
> Like what? What specific things are you having to do today that you wouldn't have had to do in, say, 1998? Not going to go into my strategy. I'll just say what I do works for me. Until it doesn't. Like in March when Google made the so-called "Fred" update. Sites that had been running for years just like yours went from the 5th position on page one to somewhere on page 10. Some sites went from page 10 to page 1. On the whole it was a net negative with no rhyme or reason to it, i.e., some lower quality sites ranked higher and vice versa. By the way, none of these sites are spam, are cloaked, aren't https, no PBN crap, etc. They were just there one day and gone the next. Many many people had the same experience. If you didn't then that's great. My point is not woe is me, down with Google. My point is Google being a gatekeeper has an immense amount of power and a subtle change by them can mean the difference between being "on the internet" and off of it. Fortunately I have many sites so I'll survive but a lot of people don't.

mivo 9y ago

In a way it is ironic. Twenty years ago, the great fear was that governments would regulate the internet. Now we hope that the governments will regulate the internet.