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Even if you break up Google or Alphabet, the search division would probably remain a single company. It won't solve anything. So You get Google Search Inc. Ads

Even if you break up Google or Alphabet, the search division would probably remain a single company. It won't solve anything. So You get Google Search Inc. Adsense Inc. AdWords Inc, Gmail Inc, I imagine. This would be just restructuring, Googlers are too smart to get hold back by this and they probably already have an emergency plan if it remotely comes as a possibility.

Aeolun 7y ago
If Google search is not funded by ads any more, they’ll suddenly have a serious problem.
- tiborsaas 7y ago
  It will, no worries. What would prevent Google AdWords Inc providing ads to Google Search Inc? It's like any other company signing up for an ad network. My point is that if your company sells information rather physical products then breaking it up is pointless.
- bagacrap 7y ago
  I don't think it would be possible to split off AdWords from Search. Search would either partner with AdWords or roll its own ads and then we'd be back to square one. When Bell Telephone was split it was cut along geographic lines. That would also not work on a tech company for obvious reasons --- software knows no borders. I don't know of a sensible way to break up tech giants because the efficiencies of scale create a natural winner take all market.
  - toast0 7y ago
    So, as part of the deal, you prohibit the companies from engaging in the businesses that you broke up. So search, inc can't expand to ads, and adwords can't expand to internet search. Search, inc is still going to want ads, presumably, so they'll contract with someone. Setup rules for the contract. Maybe require at least N ad providers with each getting a minimum of Y% of pageviews, and contract terms have to be FRAND. Strongly restrict personal information passing between the companies. Or, i guess you could go all Bell on them and divide the US into different territories and have Pacific Google and Southewestern Google and what not. Would be kind of weird to geofence search and ads though.
    - gmueckl 7y ago
      Google Search is aleady geofenced. Wven if you switch search language, it will still apply filters depending on the geolocation of the request IP. So splitting Google along geographic boundaries wouldn't change much on the technical side of things at all.
  - unlinked_dll 7y ago
    However Bell was broken up in a consent decree that didn't have to do with its monopoly over the networks, not explicitly at least. Bell was broken up because they owned Western Electric and used it to vertically integrate the telco stack for the entire country. A hypothetical breakup of Alphabet could mirror the breakup of the Bell system, as Alphabet controls the data collection -> advertisement stack. Spin off Search + AdWords as an independent business, while services targeting data collection services that feed it (Chrome/Chromium, Android, GSuite, Google Home, etc). Personally I could see a lot of consumer benefits.
anticensor 7y ago
AdSense and AdWords are two parts of the same product.
- tiborsaas 7y ago
  I know, just an example to imagine breaking Google up in a really stupid way.

Aeolun 7y ago

If Google search is not funded by ads any more, they’ll suddenly have a serious problem.

tiborsaas 7y ago
It will, no worries. What would prevent Google AdWords Inc providing ads to Google Search Inc? It's like any other company signing up for an ad network. My point is that if your company sells information rather physical products then breaking it up is pointless.
bagacrap 7y ago
I don't think it would be possible to split off AdWords from Search. Search would either partner with AdWords or roll its own ads and then we'd be back to square one. When Bell Telephone was split it was cut along geographic lines. That would also not work on a tech company for obvious reasons --- software knows no borders. I don't know of a sensible way to break up tech giants because the efficiencies of scale create a natural winner take all market.
- toast0 7y ago
  So, as part of the deal, you prohibit the companies from engaging in the businesses that you broke up. So search, inc can't expand to ads, and adwords can't expand to internet search. Search, inc is still going to want ads, presumably, so they'll contract with someone. Setup rules for the contract. Maybe require at least N ad providers with each getting a minimum of Y% of pageviews, and contract terms have to be FRAND. Strongly restrict personal information passing between the companies. Or, i guess you could go all Bell on them and divide the US into different territories and have Pacific Google and Southewestern Google and what not. Would be kind of weird to geofence search and ads though.
  - gmueckl 7y ago
    Google Search is aleady geofenced. Wven if you switch search language, it will still apply filters depending on the geolocation of the request IP. So splitting Google along geographic boundaries wouldn't change much on the technical side of things at all.
- unlinked_dll 7y ago
  However Bell was broken up in a consent decree that didn't have to do with its monopoly over the networks, not explicitly at least. Bell was broken up because they owned Western Electric and used it to vertically integrate the telco stack for the entire country. A hypothetical breakup of Alphabet could mirror the breakup of the Bell system, as Alphabet controls the data collection -> advertisement stack. Spin off Search + AdWords as an independent business, while services targeting data collection services that feed it (Chrome/Chromium, Android, GSuite, Google Home, etc). Personally I could see a lot of consumer benefits.

anticensor 7y ago

AdSense and AdWords are two parts of the same product.

tiborsaas 7y ago
I know, just an example to imagine breaking Google up in a really stupid way.