The Battle between Two Giants
THIS IS FINALLY HAPPENING: The DOJ is suing Google for unjust competition in the search engine result pages after a year-long investigation and accumulation of information.
Case Recap: here are some numbers and information from the accusation made by DOJ
- Google holds 88% of the U.S. search market, with 94% of mobile searches occurring on its services
- Google owns more than 70% of the search ads market
- Google has signed secret contracts with big companies like Apple so that it becomes the default search provider on their platforms
Problems?
In my opinion, these can lead to several problems. First of all, too much dominance by Google in the search engine market can harm consumers since it gives consumers no choice but to use what’s the most popular. And this might result in less diverse and limited amount of information for users.
In addition, Google’s “monopoly” is not only not pushing for more technological innovations, it might even be suppressing innovation and possible progress in the search market.
More thoughts
It is also interesting that I came across a vivid comment made by a senior executive about revenue sharing in Google’s app store. He said: “(the secret contract enforced by Google with providers) is a bitter pill for carriers, and a generous revenue share is the sugar that makes it go down smoother.” Although it almost sounds like a sarcastic joke, it is actually very accurate. In my opinion, big companies are famous for following the “tradition” and tendency to “work” together for bigger profit gains. And this “collaboration” among companies will always happen, whether it is Google, Amazon, or Apple. We live in a capital world in which everyone follows the power hierarchy, so it is actually exciting to see the other giant, the government, stepping up to fight on behalf of the less powerful.
