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The money would go to Android, to sponsor android development. Would it suffice if Google broke down their financials enough so that it was clear that this mone

The money would go to Android, to sponsor android development. Would it suffice if Google broke down their financials enough so that it was clear that this money was invested in android, and not in, say, maps?

ocdtrekkie 7y ago
I'm not sure that would be enough, because Android development is still principally built around Google's proprietary services and integrations. A spun-off Android would presumably support the same feature set for Google Search and say, Ecosia, alike. Also, of course, Google can just lower their own existing Android spending line and inject it back into Search, to zero out any impact on them. Similar to how my local area likes to justify highway toll increases "we'll spend it on education!" but then stripping out education funding elsewhere to compensate, and using it for something else.
- xbmcuser 7y ago
  Google bought or built android to be the main mobile search engine. I understand for competitive reasons them being forced to give others a place in the search selection but why the hell should they take themselves out or even be forced to sell Android. Google auctioning the search placement is fuck you to the search engines complaining about its monopoly if they think it's get an advantage by being the default search they should be willing to pay something for being 1 of the selection.
- lern_too_spel 7y ago
  > A spun-off Android would presumably support the same feature set for Google Search and say, Ecosia, alike. This is already the case. Unlike with iOS, Google's apps do not have access to any more APIs than other developers' apps. One could argue that the APIs themselves are prioritized and developed according to the needs of Google's apps far more than the needs of other developers' apps, which I agree is potentially problematic, but without a particular consumer-harming example, it would be impossible to build an antitrust case on that. For example, I might like it if Amazon's App Store could have automatic app upgrade permission on my non-Amazon devices (requiring some API changes in Android to make this secure for app stores not installed on the system partition), but Amazon would have a tough time demonstrating enough consumer harm for the government to take action.

ocdtrekkie 7y ago

I'm not sure that would be enough, because Android development is still principally built around Google's proprietary services and integrations. A spun-off Android would presumably support the same feature set for Google Search and say, Ecosia, alike. Also, of course, Google can just lower their own existing Android spending line and inject it back into Search, to zero out any impact on them. Similar to how my local area likes to justify highway toll increases "we'll spend it on education!" but then stripping out education funding elsewhere to compensate, and using it for something else.

xbmcuser 7y ago
Google bought or built android to be the main mobile search engine. I understand for competitive reasons them being forced to give others a place in the search selection but why the hell should they take themselves out or even be forced to sell Android. Google auctioning the search placement is fuck you to the search engines complaining about its monopoly if they think it's get an advantage by being the default search they should be willing to pay something for being 1 of the selection.
lern_too_spel 7y ago
> A spun-off Android would presumably support the same feature set for Google Search and say, Ecosia, alike. This is already the case. Unlike with iOS, Google's apps do not have access to any more APIs than other developers' apps. One could argue that the APIs themselves are prioritized and developed according to the needs of Google's apps far more than the needs of other developers' apps, which I agree is potentially problematic, but without a particular consumer-harming example, it would be impossible to build an antitrust case on that. For example, I might like it if Amazon's App Store could have automatic app upgrade permission on my non-Amazon devices (requiring some API changes in Android to make this secure for app stores not installed on the system partition), but Amazon would have a tough time demonstrating enough consumer harm for the government to take action.