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I think there is a very different dynamic from what Google is doing and what some of those other companies are doing. For example, I'm not aware that AirBNB sig
by hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
I think there is a very different dynamic from what Google is doing and what some of those other companies are doing. For example, I'm not aware that AirBNB significantly changed their commission rates at all. I know originally lots of hosts weren't requiring taxes, for example, but that's really a very different thing. Similarly, I don't have as much of a problem if a company charges X per instance of something and then over time raises rates to, say, 1.25 * X.
What Google does, though, is charge 0 for X instances of something, and then say "we're providing additional pricing options" by now charging 0 for only 0.01 * X, but then everything else has a much higher per-instance cost. They also do this with products where the switching costs are relatively high. That's much different than just saying "Oh well, I'll cancel my Netflix subscription because they raised the rates by 25%".