Maybe Google is popular because it used to be good. It was. Few monopolies ever weren't. (Or monopsonies either, for those who just can't help themselves.) It's

Maybe Google is popular because it used to be good. It was. Few monopolies ever weren't. (Or monopsonies either, for those who just can't help themselves.) It's the leveraging of past success into unassailable advantage (regardless of declines in actual value) that's at the heart of anti-trust. That is what Google has been accused of - not of being large or even dominant on the merits, but of using their market power to exclude potential rivals from a free market and therefore to harm consumers. Whether they're guilty will come out as the trial progresses. Reason is (characteristically) trying to short-circuit the process by spreading an inaccurate version of what the case is even about. The attribution of motive ("DOJ wants") and dogwhistles ("Europe!") only make it worse. It's disappointing that such a weak and hyper-partisan piece is even on HN.