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Splitting ads off from Search doesn’t mean Search doesn’t show ads. It just means that now multiple ad networks get to bid for those ad slots. Whoever wants

Splitting ads off from Search doesn’t mean Search doesn’t show ads. It just means that now multiple ad networks get to bid for those ad slots. Whoever wants to share the most money with the Search division wins. All their major properties get crazy traffic and will do just fine on their own. Chrome can make search deals and again they are siphoning off all kinds of data. They can start selling that to data brokers instead of using it internally. Not to mention regional default search engine deals. Android is on 80% of devices worldwide. You are telling me they can’t monetize that? YouTube isn’t a loss leader anymore. Google should be broken up. Same for most of Big Tech.

luckydata 2y ago
I was sort of following you until Android but you completely lost me there. That just doesn't make sense trust me. Disclosure: I work at Google in Cloud but I'm a product manager and I'm used to think about where money goes to do what. Android as a company makes no sense.
- macilacilove 2y ago
  What is your argument? Android is one of the most successful software projects of all time. It seems easily monetizable.
- alemanek 2y ago
  I do not work at Google so I am sure you have more inside information than me. But, here is my thinking. Android is operated the way it is because it cements Googles dominance with its other services. Maps, Chrome, ..etc always ship with the certified Android phones. Google proper doesn’t pay anything for that privledge currently. If broken up that first class “ships with the phone” stuff is now up for grabs and seems like it would be a valuable revenue stream. Also there is usage data which can be monetized. Play store revenue would still be there as well. Custom spins of the OS for specific industry use cases with professional support might be attractive to a smaller company which just had Android whereas it isn’t lucrative enough for Google as a whole. Also these custom flavors might not ship with Google services so there is a natural disincentive to explore this. Android on its own would likely monetize very differently than it currently is as part of the Google mothership. It would need to have a diverse set of partners. Even if it was just as a regional service reseller where it is taking a cut of service revenue in exchange for first class support on the OS. I can’t help but think that this realigning of incentives would be beneficial for the market as a whole.

luckydata 2y ago

I was sort of following you until Android but you completely lost me there. That just doesn't make sense trust me. Disclosure: I work at Google in Cloud but I'm a product manager and I'm used to think about where money goes to do what. Android as a company makes no sense.

macilacilove 2y ago
What is your argument? Android is one of the most successful software projects of all time. It seems easily monetizable.
alemanek 2y ago
I do not work at Google so I am sure you have more inside information than me. But, here is my thinking. Android is operated the way it is because it cements Googles dominance with its other services. Maps, Chrome, ..etc always ship with the certified Android phones. Google proper doesn’t pay anything for that privledge currently. If broken up that first class “ships with the phone” stuff is now up for grabs and seems like it would be a valuable revenue stream. Also there is usage data which can be monetized. Play store revenue would still be there as well. Custom spins of the OS for specific industry use cases with professional support might be attractive to a smaller company which just had Android whereas it isn’t lucrative enough for Google as a whole. Also these custom flavors might not ship with Google services so there is a natural disincentive to explore this. Android on its own would likely monetize very differently than it currently is as part of the Google mothership. It would need to have a diverse set of partners. Even if it was just as a regional service reseller where it is taking a cut of service revenue in exchange for first class support on the OS. I can’t help but think that this realigning of incentives would be beneficial for the market as a whole.