6 ms·

Well, if there were no Google-like companies, what would this site do?

• mdoms 6y ago
  Whatever he would do in a universe that does not exist is irrelevant. We live in this universe.
  • Imnimo 6y ago
    The point I'm making is that if his business is only possible because of Google, it's silly to ask what his alternatives are. It's not like he'd have a thriving business if only Google didn't exist. Instead, he's reliant on Google choosing to rank his page highly enough to get traffic for search queries that will result in people clicking on his affiliate links (who he's also reliant on). Google doesn't owe him any particular ranking. If people search for his example "cheap portable generator", does Google have some ethical responsibility to put his site at the top? Or even on the first page? Or to never change where they rank it once it reaches the first page?
    • 8note 6y ago
      They're a monopoly, so yes?
      • Imnimo 6y ago
        What does that have to do with it? If other search engines were more popular, would that change this situation? Maybe there'd be a handful of algorithms to arbitrarily rank him instead of just one, but the dynamic would still be the same. He'd still only be in business as long as their algorithms happened to think his website was slightly more relevant for "cheap portable generators" than other websites.