Written by: Grade Kaderavek
It is more than likely that you have used Google at least once in the last hour, in fact, you most likely used the Chrome browser to access this blog. Google has become such a substantial part of modern life, that it is no longer given a second thought. However, the truth is Google is dominant in the digital market and many are beginning to wonder if the company is getting too powerful. In fact, the E.U. recently penalized Google billions for acting in a way that, they claim, was in violation of antitrust laws. This begs the question, is Google a monopoly or simply a dominant oligopolist? And perhaps most importantly, should the U.S. follow in Europe’s footsteps and create new restrictions in order to allow for more competition?
With the level of control Google has, it has complete power over the ads, images, videos, and websites consumers see. This control only continues to grow as “the company has acquired more than 200 startups since it was founded” (Brandom). This is why some legislators have begun drafting bills that would limit the amount of acquisitions a company can have once it reaches a market values of $100 billion (Brandom). These new antitrust laws are perhaps the only way to reduce Google’s hold over the search engine market and allow for more fair competition, which is critical if consumers desire a real choice in the content they view online.
Still, others argue that being a dominant company does not make Google a monopoly. For example, Investopedia claims that there are low barriers to entering the browser market and therefore Google has not eliminated competition within the industry. However, Google does utilize anticompetitive practices in order to limit competition. In 2006 a new search engine was release called Foundem.com, which allowed consumers to enter multiple search conditions and find more specific results than possible on Google. Just two days after being released, Foundem.com lost all of its web traffic and found that Google had moved them from the first page to the 160th. Additionally, Getty Images used to be a popular website where consumers could download images and was in direct competition with Google Images. Then, in 2013 “Google adjusted how it displayed images so that rather than directing people to Getty’s website, users could easily see and download Getty...images from Google itself” (Duhigg). Therefore, while there are low barriers to entry concerning the creation of new and improved search engines, Google continuously updates itself in order to squander their success. This practice is once again shown in the graphic to the left, where after a new update, Google shopping (the dark blue line) overtakes all other competitors. Therefore, there are in fact high barriers to entry as well as anticompetitive practices in the search engine industry that do not allow any company to come close to Google’s dominance, further proving that Google is a monopoly.Due to Google’s large market control and creation of high barriers to entry, the U.S. must limit Google’s growth under new and current antitrust laws. If the government wishes for the American consumer to have a choice in what they read and see online then something must be done to reduce the power that Google, as a modern day monopoly, enjoys.
If you are interested in learning more about Google’s anticompetitive practices, watch the video linked below.
Works Cited
Brandom, Russell. “How to Break up Facebook, Google, and Other Tech Giants.” The Verge, 5 Sept. 2018, www.theverge.com/2018/9/5/17805162/monopoly-antitrust-regulation-google-amazon-uber-facebook.Duhigg, Charles. “The Case Against Google.” The New York Times, 20 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/magazine/the-case-against-google.html.
Foundem. “An analysis of Google’s public response to the EC’s formal charges.” Search Neutrality, 10 Jun. 2015, http://www.searchneutrality.org/2015/06.
Investopedia. “Is Google Becoming A Monopoly?” Investopedia, 2 Jun. 2015, www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/060315/google-becoming-monopoly.asp.
“Is Google a Monopoly?” International Policy Digest, 1 Nov. 2018, intpolicydigest.org/2018/02/18/is-google-a-monopoly/.
I agree that in some ways Google is a monopoly. Nowadays, it is difficult to avoid the use of Google making its demand very inelastic. For example, our school email operates through Google, our documents operate through Google, our social media sites connect with Google. Google has extended itself beyond any other search engine and its easy to use operations have allowed it to be adopted by many corporations and other medias as a source of communication. I exclusively use Google as a search engine as it is typically the easiest to use and what we are exposed to on a everyday basis. Google is practically unavoidable, and thus is characteristically similar to a monopoly.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that, presently, Google is a monopoly in its market. You don't hear about any new search engines being established, and those that do exist, besides Google, are rarely utilized. Emails now are all through Gmail and the main video platform is YouTube. However, I do not think this always was the case. When I was younger, Yahoo! and Bing were still relevant search engines and I believe this is because what they offered was equal to that of what Google did. Before Google owned YouTube, it had no stand out features. Yahoo mail was comparable to Gmail in functioning, and Bing's search results were just as plentiful and accurate as Google's. In fact, Bing was the best known for having a safe search option that filtered out inappropriate results. However, as time went on, Google's efficiency in searches increased, its inbox design became more user friendly, and it picked up YouTube. These technological based additions and upgrades made it the more desirable web engine to use, and its demand in comparison to Yahoo! and Bing increased, leading to an increase in market share. Up to this point, it could be argued the search engine market was an oligopoly. However, this demand increase was substantial enough to increase profit to the point where Google could branch out into web browsers (Chrome), home devices (Google Homes), and even phones (Pixels). These additional products were the catalyst that led Google to acquire the market shares and make the move from an oligopolist to a monopolist.
ReplyDeleteI agree that in the last few years google has sprouted even more than it's competitors in the online world. Everything we do through our school computers runs on google unless you specifically go to a different browser. Are laptops are even google chrome books, everything now a days seems like google has something to do with it.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is definitely a monopoly in the realm of search engines, so to speak. The example you gave about moving a company’s website from the first to the 160th page on Google is monopolistic, and quite frankly, rude. Our entire school runs on Google technology, as we utilize Chromebooks and Google Drive and GMail. The phrase “google it” is a quite common one in today’s world too, and that shows that Google has eliminated all competition in the search engines. Very few of us remain “loyal” to Bing or Yahoo. As technology evolves, Google is right there along with it. I agree, Google is a monopoly. There are other search engines out there, but the percentage of usage they receive in comparison to Google is irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Google has become a monopoly in the online world. As Maria said, other browsers such as Yahoo! and Bing that were more popular in the 2000s are now practically unheard of. While this might not seem like a big deal - after all, we should use the tool that functions the best and provides the best results, right? - this could lead to information throttling and censoring of whatever Google decides. If there is no other way to get information, then we are only able to get the information which Google provides, and they have the ability to seriously manipulate what we know. This is why it could be more dangerous than you would think for one search engine to dominate the entire market, and the government should set restrictions on the market.
ReplyDeleteAgastya Asthana,
ReplyDeleteGoogle is considered one of the best search engines in the world and has essentially become a monopoly because everyone uses it. If there was a better search engine, people might deviate from Google. Google is not a monopoly because they are not destroying competition. Google accepts competition from bing and yahoo, but none of them are better than Google. Google has also been around for a while and started as a search engine project in the first place. Google was intended to be a search engine but has developed into a company of many standards.
Google is becoming a monopoly and crowding out other competitors, but I do not think that antitrust laws will be enough to reduce Google’s power. Since Google has become such a large part of day to day life as you stated, it is what people are use to and it will be hard for laws to change customer taste. So while Google may have to stop putting up barriers to prevent other search engines from entering the competition, it does not mean that Google’s power will diminish. Consumer taste already favors Google, and Google continues to make advancements to make sure it stays that way, so even without barriers it will be hard for new competitors to enter the market.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is concerning that Google has complete control of what the users see. They certainly have a large role in the news we see and stories we hear. This is very scary because, what is stopping them from "hiding" information from us? I certainly think that Google is beginning to demonstrate some monopolistic qualities which is very scary. They control the potential competition they may have and therefore they have complete control of the market.
ReplyDeleteI agree google has complete control of what we see, but in some cases we don't. They control what ads we see based on the amount spend for ads clicked on and are more likely to show you the ads where the most money can be made by google. The market would change if they started to charge money for there services, but for now they are free to use and is by far the best.
ReplyDeleteGoogle has definitely become a monopoly, it is scary because we rely on the internet and searching for so much of what we learn about/ get our news from. If Google was controlling what we saw then how could they influence the population? The thing is that most people don't even mind or realize how big Google is. It has taken over the market over time and now I hardly even hear about other search engines. As they keep growing so does their power and control over the internet as they own YouTube and Google drive something that has replaced microsoft word.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting point you raise, as traditionally I would think of Google as a part of an oligopoly due to the fact that there are other search browsers such as Yahoo!, Bing, Internet Explorer, and much more. However, the fact that you mentioned that Google is a modern day monopoly proves to be true, as it has completely swept over the competition as if there is none left. When is the last time you looked something up on an engine other than Google? The answer to this is probably not recently, or if so it was a rare occasion, which is because Google has expanded their company into so much more than a search engine, which shows just how much control they have over the users.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that you attached a video to your blog post it was really interesting! If you think about how much you actually use and rely on Google it is crazy. This made me think about the fact that google is trying to break into the cell phone market. If they become as dominant as Apple or Samsung, they would control so much of people lives.
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ReplyDeleteHonestly, my first thought was that even if Google is a monopoly, it’s not that big of a deal because you don’t have to pay in order to look something up online. However, as I read through your post, I realized that the power to control prices is just as important as the power to control what consumers read or see online. I find this interesting because when the word “Google” is said, most people don’t immediately think of a monopoly as Google is part of their everyday life. We learned about Luxottica in class and none of us knew of that company, yet they’re huge in the eyeglass department and could be defined as a monopoly. In my opinion, Google is doing the exact opposite by almost “hiding in plain sight” so that people don’t become concerned about their large percentage of market shares and they can continue on as a monopoly.
ReplyDeleteWhile it might be true that google is monopolistic, is that really a bad thing. Google is probably one of the most overlooked things in society today. People just expect to be able to look up anything, any video and find millions of results in fractions of a second. People don’t often stop and think how amazing all of that is, and it’s all for free. Even if Google is a monopoly, there really isn’t a harm for it being so. I think people think monopolies mean that the company will immediately start taking control over everything as soon as they get enough control over a market and that just won’t happen. So what if they don’t show other search engines at the top of the results. They are a company, companies want you to use their products, and they want you to keep using their product. It’s not like you can go into McDonald's and then complain that there aren’t ads for Burger King.
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