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And the customer base is still is going to voluntarily choose to go to Google search and YouTube like they always have. That’s where the money is. Windows st

And the customer base is still is going to voluntarily choose to go to Google search and YouTube like they always have. That’s where the money is. Windows still has the majority of the desk to market share and Google search is not the default. Yet people still choose to use Google. As far as Chrome itself, every single desktop OS user except for those forced to use ChromeOS went out of their way to willingly download Chrome.

philistine 1y ago
And how, pray tell, where all of these people made aware of Chrome? Google made the first ad for its front page for Chrome. This is not in itself a problem, but Google has a monopoly in search and ads. They cannot be allowed to also have a monopoly in browsers. That’s the whole point of American monopoly laws. Once you have a monopoly, you can’t do everything you want. There are limits. Owning a browser is too much power in one monopolistic giant.
- JustExAWS 1y ago
  So let’s say that Google doesn’t own Chrome. Does that affect where Google actually makes its money? In 2025 when most people first by a Windows computer, do they use Bing or go to Google? Google does not have a monopoly on ads. Billions are spent on ads on Facebook properties, Amazon, Apple (app store), TikTok. People choose to use Google for search and can go to any other search engine if they choose. In 2025, Google search is so bad more and more people are using LLM based search tools.
  - philistine 1y ago
    While the vibes around Google Search are indeed bad, the numbers haven't shown a dip in usage. And it's not like Google has rested on its laurels. They're shoving AI in search as much as they can.
ocdtrekkie 1y ago
This is an extremely naive take. Sundar Pichai's claim to fame was getting the Google Toolbar and Chrome pushed into the Adobe Reader installer back in the day. So many OEMs were shoving Chrome and Google into their default loads that Microsoft had to make a "Bing Edition" of Windows for a bit with a lower price to include Bing and Edge as default, and have now outright blocked the practice I believe. When you visit Google Search or Gmail on your default browser, you get at least one but sometimes as many as three separate popups telling you to install Chrome for "faster" ability to search/email. Today many product vendors incorrectly claim that their website or service will only work on Chrome, and refuse to provide support unless you switch to it. Oh, and my personal favorite: If you aren't the admin of a PC, Chrome malware-installs in the user profile folder so you can circumvent your IT department! Google's power to force Chrome on people is insane, and as the government has now determined, illegally anticompetitive.
- JustExAWS 1y ago
  This is 2025. People who buy Windows get a Chromium based browser where Google Search is not the default yet they go to Google. I have a Mac, don’t use Chrome or a Chromium based browser and haven’t had an issue. And you are forced to install Chrome on Windows? Besides wouldn’t you want your applications to install without requiring admin access?
  - ocdtrekkie 1y ago
    Wait, are you suggesting you don't see an issue with people being able to install a web browser on a PC they don't own?
    - scarface_74 1y ago
      Hopefully you are being sarcastic. I have never in 30 years across 10 companies including one BigTech company not been trusted with admin access to my computer. However, admins have been able to lock down computers to not allow them to install software at least since Windows NT.

philistine 1y ago

And how, pray tell, where all of these people made aware of Chrome? Google made the first ad for its front page for Chrome. This is not in itself a problem, but Google has a monopoly in search and ads. They cannot be allowed to also have a monopoly in browsers. That’s the whole point of American monopoly laws. Once you have a monopoly, you can’t do everything you want. There are limits. Owning a browser is too much power in one monopolistic giant.

JustExAWS 1y ago
So let’s say that Google doesn’t own Chrome. Does that affect where Google actually makes its money? In 2025 when most people first by a Windows computer, do they use Bing or go to Google? Google does not have a monopoly on ads. Billions are spent on ads on Facebook properties, Amazon, Apple (app store), TikTok. People choose to use Google for search and can go to any other search engine if they choose. In 2025, Google search is so bad more and more people are using LLM based search tools.
- philistine 1y ago
  While the vibes around Google Search are indeed bad, the numbers haven't shown a dip in usage. And it's not like Google has rested on its laurels. They're shoving AI in search as much as they can.

ocdtrekkie 1y ago

This is an extremely naive take. Sundar Pichai's claim to fame was getting the Google Toolbar and Chrome pushed into the Adobe Reader installer back in the day. So many OEMs were shoving Chrome and Google into their default loads that Microsoft had to make a "Bing Edition" of Windows for a bit with a lower price to include Bing and Edge as default, and have now outright blocked the practice I believe. When you visit Google Search or Gmail on your default browser, you get at least one but sometimes as many as three separate popups telling you to install Chrome for "faster" ability to search/email. Today many product vendors incorrectly claim that their website or service will only work on Chrome, and refuse to provide support unless you switch to it. Oh, and my personal favorite: If you aren't the admin of a PC, Chrome malware-installs in the user profile folder so you can circumvent your IT department! Google's power to force Chrome on people is insane, and as the government has now determined, illegally anticompetitive.

JustExAWS 1y ago
This is 2025. People who buy Windows get a Chromium based browser where Google Search is not the default yet they go to Google. I have a Mac, don’t use Chrome or a Chromium based browser and haven’t had an issue. And you are forced to install Chrome on Windows? Besides wouldn’t you want your applications to install without requiring admin access?
- ocdtrekkie 1y ago
  Wait, are you suggesting you don't see an issue with people being able to install a web browser on a PC they don't own?
  - scarface_74 1y ago
    Hopefully you are being sarcastic. I have never in 30 years across 10 companies including one BigTech company not been trusted with admin access to my computer. However, admins have been able to lock down computers to not allow them to install software at least since Windows NT.