4 ms·

Completely missing the problem. The problem i'm talking about is more in the case of some company distributing a large phonebook for the city, which includes a

Completely missing the problem. The problem i'm talking about is more in the case of some company distributing a large phonebook for the city, which includes all stores and people, information they gathered by downloading public city records. So people start using this phonebook all the time, and for most citizens, it's the only way they can find your business. But on day the phonebook company, decides for an uknown reason to delist a business. When the store then contacts the phone company, they are reached with a voicemail, every time they try to contact. The store knows some friends who know the owner of the phonebook company, but the guy they know refuse to comment on it. What the hell is the store supposed to do? The entire city is so hooked on the phonebook company, because they give them free phone lines, and all sorts of seemingly free stuff, which is really just feeding drugs to the addict. How does this not stink far away of antitrust? The phonebook is actively working to keep its users with free stuff, so that they keep using them, and enables them to extort the phone store to have to pay the phonebook company for getting them listed again.

MichaelGG 13y ago
That's not accurate at all. The phonebook doesn't provide any useful ranking - it's an alphabetical sort usually. It's closer to a factual database than anything. Google could solve all criticism of its results simply by returning all URLs in alphabetical order -- but they'd lose all their users, too. The situation is much more akin to a hotline to call up and ask what a good place is for Q. And usually the hotline refers people to your business for Q, but now they don't. And since the hotline is part of a massive organization and answers are generated by a massive, complicated, AI, it's hard to find out why the hotline decided to not refer people to your business anymore.
gagege 13y ago
I don't think I'm missing the problem at all. The problem is that that average business trusts Google way too much. They think Google is some kind of free public service. They're putting all their eggs in Google's basket. They should know that Google is heavily invested in the basket business.

MichaelGG 13y ago

That's not accurate at all. The phonebook doesn't provide any useful ranking - it's an alphabetical sort usually. It's closer to a factual database than anything. Google could solve all criticism of its results simply by returning all URLs in alphabetical order -- but they'd lose all their users, too. The situation is much more akin to a hotline to call up and ask what a good place is for Q. And usually the hotline refers people to your business for Q, but now they don't. And since the hotline is part of a massive organization and answers are generated by a massive, complicated, AI, it's hard to find out why the hotline decided to not refer people to your business anymore.

gagege 13y ago

I don't think I'm missing the problem at all. The problem is that that average business trusts Google way too much. They think Google is some kind of free public service. They're putting all their eggs in Google's basket. They should know that Google is heavily invested in the basket business.