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Google is a monopoly. But this is simply because their product was/is so much better than the rest. Anyone can access bing whenever they want but not many peopl

by baxtr 2y ago

Google is a monopoly. But this is simply because their product was/is so much better than the rest. Anyone can access bing whenever they want but not many people care.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
There are network effects and other feedback loops that make competition not possible. For example, by simply having fewer users, you get less information to train your algorithms. But in Google‘s case, they also have the network effect of running an advertising platform. This platform is hard to compete against in itself. And it provides funding that would otherwise potentially go to other players so that they can invest in search quality. Just a thought. I have not thought deeply about this so I would welcome other opinions.
kuschku 2y ago
The best result for the consumer would obviously be the best maps integrated into the best search. That may end up apple maps or here wego with google search. It'd be perfectly fine for Google to allow choosing your own maps provider, or just using geo:// URIs so whichever maps app you've got installed handles location links. Through laws and treaties we've given the EU the duty to enforce this.
johannes1234321 2y ago
Yes anybody could use Bing, but they won't. That leads to big revenues for Google. Question now is, what Google does with those revenues. Do they invest in other markets where they otherwise can't compete to drive competitors out of the market? - Then they abuse the power they got.
- carlosjobim 2y ago
  That is clearly not an abuse of power, unless we have to adopt the ideology that anything a big company does with their profit is an abuse of power. Would you be happier if all profit went to shareholders and none to investing?
julienfr112 2y ago
The question is not the monopoly by itself, it's to conquer other market by abusing it's power. If you own search and mobile os, without régulation, what could you prevent to own mobile service, then fiber, then delivery then car, then train, then whatever ?
- baxtr 2y ago
  Who built ChatGPT again?
  - ethbr1 2y ago
    Microsoft's money?
    - baxtr 2y ago
      Exactly. It was not Google even though they had the monopoly on data.
    - manuelmoreale 2y ago
      With initial research inputs by Google and their work on Transformer if I’m not mistaken.
pessimizer 2y ago
Google was better for the five minutes that pagerank lasted. The only thing it's maintained since is being no worse than the competitors, while being the default. In order to become and remain the default they use the profit they make from their old purchase of doubleclick, since ads are what make Google money, in order to bribe and buy competitors. There's no part of this that is good. Other than as a huge monopoly, they can afford to be huge on R&D, just like Bell. They still fail to make money on anything but ads, though, so it's not turning out as well as Bell.
- adamc 2y ago
  There's all sorts of anecdotal evidence that google searches have gotten steadily worse, and google has stopped supporting parts of its search "API" that mitigated this. So they've been the market leader but haven't continued to improve search in any noticeable way. Sure, other search engines can theoretically compete, but it is an enormous mountain to get enough data to be competitive... and just being "as good" is not enough to get people to switch. So without regulation, google is going to exploit a captive market.
iteratethis 2y ago
Yes, it's so much better that they pay Apple billions each year to make it the default search engine.
- baxtr 2y ago
  This showcases Apple’s monopoly not Google’s. I believe even if Apple had chosen Bing instead most people would have changed the search engine back to Google. Just like with maps. Most people I know use Google maps on their iPhones even though it has been replaced as default map app a long time ago.
  - iteratethis 2y ago
    "I believe even if Apple had chosen Bing instead most people would have changed the search engine back to Google." If that is true then I guess Google really has too much money.

by baxtr 2y ago

Google is a monopoly. But this is simply because their product was/is so much better than the rest. Anyone can access bing whenever they want but not many people care.

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago

There are network effects and other feedback loops that make competition not possible. For example, by simply having fewer users, you get less information to train your algorithms. But in Google‘s case, they also have the network effect of running an advertising platform. This platform is hard to compete against in itself. And it provides funding that would otherwise potentially go to other players so that they can invest in search quality. Just a thought. I have not thought deeply about this so I would welcome other opinions.

kuschku 2y ago

The best result for the consumer would obviously be the best maps integrated into the best search. That may end up apple maps or here wego with google search. It'd be perfectly fine for Google to allow choosing your own maps provider, or just using geo:// URIs so whichever maps app you've got installed handles location links. Through laws and treaties we've given the EU the duty to enforce this.

johannes1234321 2y ago

Yes anybody could use Bing, but they won't. That leads to big revenues for Google. Question now is, what Google does with those revenues. Do they invest in other markets where they otherwise can't compete to drive competitors out of the market? - Then they abuse the power they got.

carlosjobim 2y ago
That is clearly not an abuse of power, unless we have to adopt the ideology that anything a big company does with their profit is an abuse of power. Would you be happier if all profit went to shareholders and none to investing?

julienfr112 2y ago

The question is not the monopoly by itself, it's to conquer other market by abusing it's power. If you own search and mobile os, without régulation, what could you prevent to own mobile service, then fiber, then delivery then car, then train, then whatever ?

baxtr 2y ago
Who built ChatGPT again?
- ethbr1 2y ago
  Microsoft's money?
  - baxtr 2y ago
    Exactly. It was not Google even though they had the monopoly on data.
  - manuelmoreale 2y ago
    With initial research inputs by Google and their work on Transformer if I’m not mistaken.

pessimizer 2y ago

Google was better for the five minutes that pagerank lasted. The only thing it's maintained since is being no worse than the competitors, while being the default. In order to become and remain the default they use the profit they make from their old purchase of doubleclick, since ads are what make Google money, in order to bribe and buy competitors. There's no part of this that is good. Other than as a huge monopoly, they can afford to be huge on R&D, just like Bell. They still fail to make money on anything but ads, though, so it's not turning out as well as Bell.

adamc 2y ago
There's all sorts of anecdotal evidence that google searches have gotten steadily worse, and google has stopped supporting parts of its search "API" that mitigated this. So they've been the market leader but haven't continued to improve search in any noticeable way. Sure, other search engines can theoretically compete, but it is an enormous mountain to get enough data to be competitive... and just being "as good" is not enough to get people to switch. So without regulation, google is going to exploit a captive market.

iteratethis 2y ago

Yes, it's so much better that they pay Apple billions each year to make it the default search engine.

baxtr 2y ago
This showcases Apple’s monopoly not Google’s. I believe even if Apple had chosen Bing instead most people would have changed the search engine back to Google. Just like with maps. Most people I know use Google maps on their iPhones even though it has been replaced as default map app a long time ago.
- iteratethis 2y ago
  "I believe even if Apple had chosen Bing instead most people would have changed the search engine back to Google." If that is true then I guess Google really has too much money.