3 ms·

> They're able to make of break businesses overnight by changing the stream of traffic Maybe small businesses wake up to the fact that building the core of the

> They're able to make of break businesses overnight by changing the stream of traffic Maybe small businesses wake up to the fact that building the core of their livelihood on the foundation of a whimsical megacorp is a Bad Idea. Google attracts businesses to work with them because they make visibility easy. But if they screw over those same businesses, then maybe the bait isn't worth taking in the first place? Maybe networking and building your customer base without Google, in some venue that you have better control over (or is at least more reliable/transparent) is preferable?

vxNsr 6y ago
This suggestion is interesting in that you seem earnest but you appear to be fundamentally misunderstanding how the internet works: Ppl use google to search for things, they use chrome to find things, they don’t like typing in addresses, they would much rather google give them the top result whatever that may be. You are suggesting that the news orgs change human behavior. Good luck with that.
danielheath 6y ago
Start from the idea that small business owners aren't actually idiots and don't spend their time promoting their business on social media because it's fun. Cost of customer acquisition isn't comparable without those platforms. Working harder and still not being price-competitive isn't preferable, even if it mitigates some future risk.
chongli 6y ago
If you don’t use Google to drive traffic and your competitor does, you lose. It doesn’t matter that your competitor gets screwed over by Google a few years down the road. You will already be gone. This is part of why capitalism is said to have boom/bust cycles. Stable equilibriums are less favourable than unstable ones. Taking advantage of every available opportunity is the only way to compete.
underwater 6y ago
What digital platform is open and neutral? Everything is either controlled by Google, Facebook or Apple, and optimised for engagement and their ability to earn revenue. Imagine if a company controlled not just the main street in your town, but also in every town in the world. The analogue would be to tell shopkeepers to build their own city and convince people to live their so they can run their shop.

vxNsr 6y ago

This suggestion is interesting in that you seem earnest but you appear to be fundamentally misunderstanding how the internet works: Ppl use google to search for things, they use chrome to find things, they don’t like typing in addresses, they would much rather google give them the top result whatever that may be. You are suggesting that the news orgs change human behavior. Good luck with that.

danielheath 6y ago

Start from the idea that small business owners aren't actually idiots and don't spend their time promoting their business on social media because it's fun. Cost of customer acquisition isn't comparable without those platforms. Working harder and still not being price-competitive isn't preferable, even if it mitigates some future risk.

chongli 6y ago

If you don’t use Google to drive traffic and your competitor does, you lose. It doesn’t matter that your competitor gets screwed over by Google a few years down the road. You will already be gone. This is part of why capitalism is said to have boom/bust cycles. Stable equilibriums are less favourable than unstable ones. Taking advantage of every available opportunity is the only way to compete.

underwater 6y ago

What digital platform is open and neutral? Everything is either controlled by Google, Facebook or Apple, and optimised for engagement and their ability to earn revenue. Imagine if a company controlled not just the main street in your town, but also in every town in the world. The analogue would be to tell shopkeepers to build their own city and convince people to live their so they can run their shop.