We are in for an interesting four years. This type of "free speech" attack on tech companies goes back a number of years. If the DOJ under Gaetz aligned with the FCC under Carr uses this approach, we could see real damage done to these companies. [Note: There's no political value judgment in what I said.]
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U.S. DoJ Wants Google to Sell Chrome Browser
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any company that wants to buy chrome, can get it for free here: https://github.com/chromium/chromium
I hate government intervention in private businesses. There are numerous search engines and numerous browsers. If the majority of people pick Google, that's because it's a quality product. We can change default search engine at any time. We can change browsers at any time. Government, leave Google alone and keep on giving taxpayer money to the Ukraine. You seem to be very good at that.
If they force Google to just use Chromium and it get some sort of open initiative it could be very beneficial to the whole ecosystem.
If they force google to just sell Chrome and google will still have total domination over web standards and over chromium development nothing will change.
If they force google to just sell Chrome and google will still have total domination over web standards and over chromium development nothing will change.
No one might want it, but people are getting pissed off at the status quo.
Any google search now is just a page full of paid adverts, some for scam sites, Google doesn't care nor consider TrustPilot or other reviews with the quality of the adverts it shows.
The next set of 'results' are usually SEO'd results / top ten lists or fake advice sites that also feature Google adverts heavily.
They are pushing back against ad blockers whilst looking to increase fee's for Youtube premium.
To find decent results in Google search now is becoming harder and harder, at best their AI might have stolen the content from a decent source of information (without credit) but finding actual websites that are not with scams, heavily Google advert partners or just plain misinformation. Google knows this and doesn't care, they are no longer in the search engine business.
There's no guarantee that the company which owns Google search after such a break up wouldn't also have the problem of not "displaying information fairly" that Vance believes exists.
There used to be a Fairness Doctrine for broadcast networks, but this was eliminated by the Reagan administration when it declared fairness hurt the public interest and violated free speech. If Vance wants to propose a return of the Fairness Doctrine and an expansion of the media to which it applies, he should say so.
[Note: Again, I've made no political value judgment in this post.]
My thoughts exactly... when I watch Real vs Atlético or Man City vs M.United.
That was more of a comment on efficiency and perceived waste than on limiting authority.
I'd rather they be forced to sell off YouTube
No, they aren't. One thing that is obvious from listening to pundits and reading message boards is that almost no one has a clue what a true monopoly is. We are living in an increasingly anti-intellectual and anti-rational age, making people suspectible to emotional manipulation and politcal stunts, which is exactly what this is.
And I have no love for Alphabet so I don't use any of their products, ever. I also don't use services that rely on Google (be it search, browser, whatever). Which come to think of it, goes to show they are not a monopoly.
Have relatives I’ve tried to get off Chrome for years.Yeah, it's the most popular browser (and it's not even close) because everyone hates it.
They don’t use Chrome because it’s any good, they use it “Because there are things on Facebook that only work with it”. 🙄🤦♂️
(IMO making another great reason to ditch both Chrome and FB!)
Google and Chrome set a lot of web standards and do have control over the browser, advertising, and extensions. Now that google is pushing manifest v3 all chrome AND chromium browsers can no longer use Adblock extensions. edge uses chromium and the combined share of chrome and edge gives them monopolistic ability.
Search, the browser, and Android, and it's all subsidized by ads. How does anyone compete with that monopoly? Android never had a chance on its own. The search ad money snowballed.
I honestly think that the only way to get away from the hot garbage that search has become, is to create a conglomerate made up of all the big players to fund a state-of-the-art, ad-free search/browser. That's the only way. Otherwise, it's just a manipulated game to be gamed. Somewhere that you can actually find things. Just as we despise Junk mail and telemarketers, we need a clean slate. Something new. Reward the content creators whose sites they crawl for information instead of just enriching themselves from t. All this SEO nonsense has to go. It has to be a nonprofit funded by Apple, Microsoft, and others to create a safe place from the nonsense.
I honestly think that the only way to get away from the hot garbage that search has become, is to create a conglomerate made up of all the big players to fund a state-of-the-art, ad-free search/browser. That's the only way. Otherwise, it's just a manipulated game to be gamed. Somewhere that you can actually find things. Just as we despise Junk mail and telemarketers, we need a clean slate. Something new. Reward the content creators whose sites they crawl for information instead of just enriching themselves from t. All this SEO nonsense has to go. It has to be a nonprofit funded by Apple, Microsoft, and others to create a safe place from the nonsense.
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There's still other browser engines than Chromium. (Heck, I'm using Firefox rn and that uses Gecko)