The problem is that it's anti-competitive. If Google owns the search business (and they do, more or less), they can drive other companies out of business by twe

The problem is that it's anti-competitive. If Google owns the search business (and they do, more or less), they can drive other companies out of business by tweaking their listings - even companies that have nothing to do with search. What if your local phone company was owned by Verizon, and they "accidentally" misprinted phone numbers of Sprint customers? Or if the supplier of 70% of the world's cars made it harder for its competition's cars to get filled up with gas? Everyone loses except the monopoly. You're right that ultimately, you could get a different phone book (or different search engine). But there isn't really a great search alternative right now. Hopefully that will change soon.