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“To the rich, parking fines are just price tags” [1] While annoying for Google, this is a mosquito bite. Google Annual Revenue: $279,800 Million And today t

“To the rich, parking fines are just price tags” [1] While annoying for Google, this is a mosquito bite. Google Annual Revenue: $279,800 Million And today they’ll be fined: .. .. $93 Million It’s about “an hour” of their annual income. At these prices it’s pretty much worth it to be pulling all sorts of unethical moves. This is not even the price to play but rather the price if you get caught. 1. https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a6/06/ec/a606ec5c539472182cf126226e4f48ab.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a6/06/ec/a606ec5c539472182cf126226... 2. https://www.statista.com/statistics/266206/googles-annual-global-revenue/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/266206/googles-annual-gl...

hnav 3y ago
Google's net income is something like 60b, so more like half a day which is a bit more significant. Multiply that by all the different angles regulators are going to be coming for big tech and it might start to add up enough that it shapes internal policy further.
- hedora 3y ago
  Since almost all of their revenue is from tracking users, that implies we'll need over of these rulings per day if we want it to be economically rational for them to stop violating people's privacy.
- evolve2k 3y ago
  When we as externals are at “if enough fines are issued it might start to shift behaviour” we’re very much dealing with a party for whom this is a mere inconvenience.
_jab 3y ago
Comparing the entire company's revenue to the fine is a bit misleading. Arguably, the more relevant comparison is to consider how much marginal revenue the violating feature actually produced. Granted, probably no one besides Google knows that number, but it's surely orders of magnitude lower. If those numbers are comparable, this starts to look like a reasonable penalty.
- hankchinaski 3y ago
  exactly - people each time there is a fine they continue to regurgitate the usual "but what bout their revenue" - people on the orange site thinking they know better than a panel of expert regulators
  - ClumsyPilot 3y ago
    You mean like the panel of expert regulators that has sent noone to jail for collapsing the global economy in 2008, or for Boeing Max debacle?
  - jasonfarnon 3y ago
    I don't know what the orange site is. But I know a panel of "expert regulators" did not decide on this fine. This was a negotiated legal settlement.
    - wnoise 3y ago
      This is the orange site, the one you're on right now.
- sodality2 3y ago
  I definitely don’t ascribe to the notion that crimes should be punished equally to their benefit to the party. Otherwise bank thieves would just give it all back when caught, and the risk to reward is minimal. It should be enough to dissuade a company from ever doing these illegal acts
  - tomComb 3y ago
    I don’t think you’re understanding the meaning of proportional. You could make the penalty 50 times the benefit.
    - sodality2 3y ago
      You’re right, edited for clarity
robocat 3y ago
> Revenue: $279,800 Million > about “an hour” of their annual income Nitpick: mistaking revenue for income(profit) is a very common error most of us make when talking about businesses. If you wish to own a business or invest, it is well worthwhile to program the difference into your head. It matters less for high margin businesses, but it is crucial to delineate the difference for low margin businesess (such as retail).
unmole 3y ago
Revenue is not income.

hnav 3y ago

Google's net income is something like 60b, so more like half a day which is a bit more significant. Multiply that by all the different angles regulators are going to be coming for big tech and it might start to add up enough that it shapes internal policy further.

hedora 3y ago
Since almost all of their revenue is from tracking users, that implies we'll need over of these rulings per day if we want it to be economically rational for them to stop violating people's privacy.
evolve2k 3y ago
When we as externals are at “if enough fines are issued it might start to shift behaviour” we’re very much dealing with a party for whom this is a mere inconvenience.

_jab 3y ago

Comparing the entire company's revenue to the fine is a bit misleading. Arguably, the more relevant comparison is to consider how much marginal revenue the violating feature actually produced. Granted, probably no one besides Google knows that number, but it's surely orders of magnitude lower. If those numbers are comparable, this starts to look like a reasonable penalty.

hankchinaski 3y ago
exactly - people each time there is a fine they continue to regurgitate the usual "but what bout their revenue" - people on the orange site thinking they know better than a panel of expert regulators
- ClumsyPilot 3y ago
  You mean like the panel of expert regulators that has sent noone to jail for collapsing the global economy in 2008, or for Boeing Max debacle?
- jasonfarnon 3y ago
  I don't know what the orange site is. But I know a panel of "expert regulators" did not decide on this fine. This was a negotiated legal settlement.
  - wnoise 3y ago
    This is the orange site, the one you're on right now.
sodality2 3y ago
I definitely don’t ascribe to the notion that crimes should be punished equally to their benefit to the party. Otherwise bank thieves would just give it all back when caught, and the risk to reward is minimal. It should be enough to dissuade a company from ever doing these illegal acts
- tomComb 3y ago
  I don’t think you’re understanding the meaning of proportional. You could make the penalty 50 times the benefit.
  - sodality2 3y ago
    You’re right, edited for clarity

robocat 3y ago

> Revenue: $279,800 Million > about “an hour” of their annual income Nitpick: mistaking revenue for income(profit) is a very common error most of us make when talking about businesses. If you wish to own a business or invest, it is well worthwhile to program the difference into your head. It matters less for high margin businesses, but it is crucial to delineate the difference for low margin businesess (such as retail).

unmole 3y ago

Revenue is not income.