4 ms·

Consumers favor sodas that are advertised to them frequently, too. We are where we are, because most users have gotten us there. > Pretending that Google is m

Consumers favor sodas that are advertised to them frequently, too. We are where we are, because most users have gotten us there. > Pretending that Google is merely passively reflecting user preferences rather than actively shaping them makes no sense. It has content and advertising just like a gas station does. It's a market. Literally, it's a market.

HBKXNCUO 7y ago
Yup, a market where Google makes editorial decisions about what ads and results they show.
- traderjane 7y ago
  Isn’t that just like Safeway or the NYT? Except these companies probably exercise way more control than Google, and their customers likely enjoy the curation.
  - HBKXNCUO 7y ago
    I am sure both of those companies do exercise more control than Google, but they also do not have over 90% market share.
  - zepto 7y ago
    It’s just like that, Except that the NYT and Safeway don’t pretend that their product isn’t the result of curation. There is nothing ‘organic’ about organic search results.
sonnyblarney 7y ago
"Consumers favor sodas that are advertised to them frequently, too." A) Information is not Soda, it's not an arbitrary choice B) Soda is also a physical distribution business - Coke and Pepsi dominate physical distribution, shelf space etc. - these problems don't really exist in news, or rather, in totally different ways. So - 1) they are different kinds of 'products' in terms of their civil relation (i.e. we don't care about gossip information), and 2) the businesses are actually different.
zepto 7y ago
It’s not literally a market in any way. But I agree that there are comparisons with a Gas station. A gas station is there for one reason - to sell you what the owners find profitable. What is sold and what is displayed are chosen for that reason only. Google is exactly like this. What it is not, is a responsible organizer of the world’s information or a search service, or in any way responsible to the interests of searchers unless they align with the interests of advertisers.

HBKXNCUO 7y ago

Yup, a market where Google makes editorial decisions about what ads and results they show.

traderjane 7y ago
Isn’t that just like Safeway or the NYT? Except these companies probably exercise way more control than Google, and their customers likely enjoy the curation.
- HBKXNCUO 7y ago
  I am sure both of those companies do exercise more control than Google, but they also do not have over 90% market share.
- zepto 7y ago
  It’s just like that, Except that the NYT and Safeway don’t pretend that their product isn’t the result of curation. There is nothing ‘organic’ about organic search results.

sonnyblarney 7y ago

"Consumers favor sodas that are advertised to them frequently, too." A) Information is not Soda, it's not an arbitrary choice B) Soda is also a physical distribution business - Coke and Pepsi dominate physical distribution, shelf space etc. - these problems don't really exist in news, or rather, in totally different ways. So - 1) they are different kinds of 'products' in terms of their civil relation (i.e. we don't care about gossip information), and 2) the businesses are actually different.

zepto 7y ago

It’s not literally a market in any way. But I agree that there are comparisons with a Gas station. A gas station is there for one reason - to sell you what the owners find profitable. What is sold and what is displayed are chosen for that reason only. Google is exactly like this. What it is not, is a responsible organizer of the world’s information or a search service, or in any way responsible to the interests of searchers unless they align with the interests of advertisers.