Google Claims They "Just Aren't That Big" 283
The New York Times is reporting that Google is making the case that they just aren't that big, especially from an anti-trust point of view. While they certainly corner the market in search, advertising, and online video, Dana Wagner, Google's "senior competition counsel," is working hard to convince the public that "competition is a click away." "None of the investigations take aim at Google's core advertising business. And unlike other technology giants in years past, Google has not been accused of anticompetitive tactics. But the investigations and carping from competitors and critics have Google fighting to dispel the notion that it has a lock on its market, even as it increases its share of search and online advertising. Eyes are rolling, especially in reaction to the idea that Google is a relatively small player in a giant market. 'They describe where they are in a market under a kind of a fairy-tale spun gloss that doesn't reflect their dominance of key sectors,' said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. 'Google search is an absolute must-have for every marketer in the world.'"
Google Monopoly today... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The alternative is much worse (Score:1, Interesting)
course not...
It's better having a search-engine monopolist tying their awful products into all their search databases and becoming number one.
Re:They're not big. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I agree (Score:3, Interesting)
They are big but not that big.
So you aren't that big when you are probably bigger than more than 99.99% of all businesses in the world? I'm sorry, but that's bullshit.
Re:The alternative is much worse (Score:2, Interesting)
Apple doesnt have a MONOPOLY. That the part of the argument you are forgetting. MS used its MONOPOLY in Operating Systems to stifle the browser segment, which at the time, were still thought of as a pay product. And to avoid being told to take it out, they claimed it was integral to the OS, and COULDNT be removed. Which made every geek in the world roll his eyes in disbelief.
Re:They're not big. (Score:3, Interesting)
Wait so it's Microsoft's fault that 3rd parties are developing on their OS only?
Well that makes sense.
Re:they're not that big by most measures (Score:3, Interesting)
Worse still is that you couldn't liquidate the shares of any of those companies for anywhere near that amount of money.
Re:They're not big. (Score:4, Interesting)
I know there were better engines out there. I personally had to admin Hotbot at the end of its life. And it was way better than Google. Especially the query features.
It was just, that to use Google, you additionally did not need half a brain to search for something.
I actually hate the search interface of Google. One line? Can't search for non-alphanumeric stuff? Even quotes are nothing more than a rule that this word has to loosely follow that one? Ambiguity and missing boolean functions/operators? It's even worse than the PHP interpreter.
I can understand that someone who has no idea what he's doing, will like Google's interface, because Google will figure it out for him. But if you know how to input complex queries, then this thing is a nightmare.
Additionally, nowadays, even a better search engine had no chance. Not because of anticompetitive behavior. But because of inertia, aka. "being used to it". Changing what you are used to, always is painful. So as long as the thing you are doing does not create more pain that the change, you will stay with it, no matter what.
This also is, what keeps Windows on the desktop.
Re:The alternative is much worse (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, it's almost like you have this "operating system," and it's designed to open files and stuff. And it's almost like the company that makes that operating system is, you know, a software company. And it's almost like they've realized that a browser-type app is the right front-end metaphor for most of the information that typical users of their operating system will want to see.
It is? Really? Personally, I want my browser for rendering HTML and Javascript, and for providing an interface for entering and submitting data. Meanwhile, I want a file browser for examining my filesystem so I can copy, move, delete, or rename them, or open them with a specified application. And I want a control panel for altering the various settings in my operating system.
The only thing that connects those highly disparate tasks is that they all happen to involve opening a window and using the mouse/keyboard.
Or maybe you believe Explorer should also incorporate functionality for rendering PDFs, opening and editing Word documents, and so forth?
Re:They're not big. (Score:3, Interesting)
Google's nearest competitors in search are Microsoft and Yahoo and both have market shares in the low teens. It is a defacto monopoly. Only place they may not have one are in countries like China where local competitors are more competitive.
Re:They're not big. (Score:3, Interesting)
Go ahead and link me to that story. I'll check it out, because something about that just doesn't sound right.
IE: My bullshit detector is going off.