U.S. Government Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google for Search Engine Dominance

[macsba]

The next member after you took the words out of my mouth. I do agree with you that the world needs more competition. I'm a Comcast/Xfinity customer and for the most part they provide a good service but their costs are too high,

I'm following the Starlink service by Elon Musk. I've heard that they will providing their service in the long run at half the cost of cable internet providers. Looks promising but being careful. The latency won't be as good as cable internet but the speed will be terrific. Finally the rural regions will enjoy good internet.

Ref: www.starlink.com

 

[gavroche]

I’m pretty sure I have a choice in search engines. If I want to use bing, I can. If I want to ask Jeeves, I can. I just happen to use Google as it works for me.

This to me is the crux of the problem. People can say all day long that google is a monopoly... but what would be the solution. It isn't a situation where competitors are barred from existing in some way. There are options. How do you force users to choose other options? And is it protecting consumers to tell them to choose a different search engine than they would prefer? Do you force hardware suppliers to put five different search engines as default on 20% of each of their machines. Silly it seems...

 

[GeoStructural]

What? I was using Google Maps. 👍

Nope. Apple took a shady long time to approve it.

Google insiders reportedly concerned Apple won't approve Google Maps app for iOS

While Google has been working on a new Google Maps app for iOS, the question has been raised as to whether or not the app will be approved. Google apparently wishes to launch the app by the end of the

www.imore.com

Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval. It is solely up to Apple to approve. - 9to5Mac

The iOS 5 Maps which used Google’s backend Update (September 12th):Eric Schmidt went on record saying:“We haven’t done anything yet...

9to5mac.com

Apple Probably Won't Approve A Google Maps App For iOS Anytime Soon

www.businessinsider.com

 

[cmaier]

Delete

 

[gavroche]

There are other web browsers (like FireFox and Safari), so I’m not sure if the DOJ has a strong case. IE is certainly the most used web browser, but it’s not as dominant as Bell was back in the 70s. Most people might leave IE as the default in Windows, but they aren’t forced to.

You are leaving out the tiny itsy bitsy detail that Microsoft was forcing use of IE along with Windows. So it was using its dominant hardware position to force use of IE. Google has no ability to do that. It got its market share by being popular.

 

[gavroche]

When Apple Maps was released Google Maps was not available on the App Store for a long time because Apple was "reviewing" the app.

Apple stopped using Google maps as its default mapping app when it released Apple Maps on Sep 19, 2012. Google then submitted its stand alone app and it was approved and available in December. So I suppose you could say two months was a 'long time'. I recall the conversation at the time (right here on Macrumors) was whether Apple would even approve them. But they did. And those two months werent even all spent pending review as you suggest. It took a little time for Google to change the app and submit. In particular, they quickly had to add turn-by-turn, which they previously had refused to put on iOS (and the primary reason many welcomed App,e Maps so happily).

 

[ericwn]

Wonder if the Apple App Store execs are feeling a bit squirmy in their seats...

Why?

 

[Michael Scrip]

You are leaving out the tiny itsy bitsy detail that Microsoft was forcing use of IE along with Windows. So it was using its dominant hardware position to force use of IE. Google has no ability to do that. It got its market share by being popular.

Forcing?

IE was included with Windows... yes... but you could use any other browser.

I was using Netscape long before Microsoft got in trouble with the DOJ.

 

[ericwn]

I really believe if Google chose not to pay Apple, folks would still use Google on Apple devices.

I bet that’s what Microsoft folks thought about IE before Firefox and Chrome came along.

 

[majordude]

At least 100K search engines tried to be an actual "search engine." All failed and now they are pissed at Big G. Must I remind the world or AOL, Yahoo!, Bing, Ask Jeeves, etc.?

 

[ani4ani]

Apple is NOT requiring people to use 'their app'! They are stopping scammers (largely) and crooks from attacking their users.

I, for one, LIKE the idea that there is a lifeguard at the App Pool. Sure, they screw up, occasionally, but the Google Store was a cesspool. Malware and spamware were(are) common there!

If Apple were to be forced to free the spammers and scammers to flood the Apple App Store, I'll give up the iPhone and go to an old style 'flip phone' with no smart features at all. I use the iPhone as a tool. I Do Not Need someone else using my tool to attack me. If you can't see that, you need to just expose all of your personal data somewhere and get it over with.

I wonder how many of these Apple attackers don't even use any Apple products, and are just paid instigators!

GO AWAY! I HAD A 'WINDOWS PHONE', AND IT SUCKED SO MUCH I BOUGHT A NO FEATURES NOKIA WAITING FOR THE 2ND GEN IPHONE!

Go away!!! Apple can decide who plays in their/OUR pool!

So, you never use Google, YouTube, Facebook Instagram, Twitter and the like on your Apple devices? You don't use Siri that also drops back to Google? Never use Google translate, maps, earth etc? Don’t visit tech forums?

I think you’ll find plenty playing around in your Apple pool and the “lifeguard“ is turning a blind eye. In fact the lifeguard is paid handsomely to turn a blind eye

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

I really believe if Google chose not to pay Apple, folks would still use Google on Apple devices.

On my Apple devices, my email is iCloud, my search engine is Bing, maps are Apple maps, and I use Dropbox for both storage and cloud docs. So regardless if Apple pays Google, I'm still not using their services.

 

[LoadStar]

I think Google has a strong rebuttal in this case. I bet if you took a sample of computer users and asked them "regardless of what is currently set as the default in your browser, what search engine would you choose to use?" probably darn near 99% would respond "Google." People use Google for their search engine frankly because it's the best, not because it's the default.

When I use a default installation of Edge and it defaults to Bing, I immediately notice. Not because of the logo, not because of the page design, but because the results aren't nearly as good as Google's results.

 

[Blowback]

The United States Justice Department today filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, claiming the Mountain View-based company has used anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and advertising markets to maintain an unlawful monopoly.

The lawsuit [PDF], which is also backed by Attorneys General in 11 states, calls Google the "monopoly gatekeeper" to the internet for billions of users and advertisers around the world. Google has accounted for almost 90 percent of all search queries in the United States, and has allegedly used "anticompetitive tactics" such as exclusionary agreements to maintain its monopolies in search and search advertising.

One of the main complaints against Google is its deal with Apple that allows Google to be the default search engine on Apple's Safari browser and other search tools, a privilege that Google pays billions for. Google's agreement with Apple "gives Google the coveted, default position on all significant search access points" for Apple devices.

Though there is an option to change the search engine, the DoJ says that "few people do" making Google the "de facto exclusive general search engine."

Google's agreement with Apple is apparently so valuable to Google that it considers losing the default status on iPhones and other Apple products as a "Code Red" scenario. In 2019, almost 50 percent of Google search traffic originated on Apple devices.The lawsuit also accuses Google of entering into agreements that forbid preinstallation of competing search engines, requiring preinstallation of search apps in prime locations on mobile devices, and using "monopoly profits" to "buy preferential treatment" for the Google search engine on devices, web browsers, and other search access points.

Google's behavior allegedly makes it harder for "innovative new companies" to "develop, compete, and discipline Google's behavior," which has had an impact on competition and consumers. With the lawsuit, the DoJ is aiming to put an end to Google's anticompetitive conduct and "restore competition" for consumers, advertisers, and companies reliant on the internet economy.

In response to the lawsuit, Google said that the DoJ's position is "deeply flawed" and that people use Google "because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives."

Google says that the lawsuit will do nothing to help consumers and would artificially prop up "lower quality search alternatives," along with raising phone prices and making it more difficult for people to "get the search services they want to use."

Specific to Apple, Google says that Apple uses Google Search as the default for its devices because "they say Google is 'the best.'" Google also points out that Bing and Yahoo pay Apple to be featured on Apple devices, and that it's "simple" to change iPhone settings and swap out the search engine choice through Safari preferences.

Google says that it is confident that a court will conclude that the lawsuit "doesn't square" with the facts or the law, and that while it plays out, Google will remain focused on delivering free services that "help Americans every day."

Article Link: U.S. Government Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google for Search Engine Dominance

Yep! Google is the problem. Yep....not what Walmart has done to communities over the decades. Not what Amazon has/is/ will continue to do to retail. Not what Facebook AND Main Stream Media have done to our media and political processes. YEP: a friggin search engine is the problem. Decided upon by the same life-tenured political hacks who have been in power the whole time. Keep drinking the Kool Aid Kiddies. Google FORCES YOU TO USE IT....AND IS SELLING THE SECRET FORMULA TO BMW AND OTHERS! Wonder how it is that I use BING and DDGO without breaking the law. Covid-19/Police abuses/Racial and Economic problems off the scale.....My gov.and media and congress critters tell me that the lowest of ‘1st world’ concerns is the problem....a friggin search engine. TOO MUCH......

 

[WhoDaKat]

I honestly always found it odd that Apple puts such a large emphasis on privacy (literally creating ads saying what happens on iPhone stays on iPhone) and yet every spotlight search or Siri query you perform that it can't interpret gets sent straight to Google.

If Apple were serious about our privacy this is one of the major parts they should alter. Create your own search engine or buy one and bring it in-house with the same privacy focus as other aspects of the operating system.

Also I knew Apple was getting paid but for it to be 8-12 billion which is 15-20% of Apple's net income worldwide .. that's insanely high and I can see why our privacy means nothing when you look at these numbers.

I think when you search with Siri there is a layer of anonymity that you don’t get when you use Google.com.

 

[nitramluap]

Bring Back Gopher!!!

Um... Gopher is a protocol, not a search engine. I know, because I used it in my university days in 1991/2... and then the World Wide Web came along. But nice attempt at a flex...

 

[cmaier]

Um... Gopher is a protocol, not a search engine. I know, because I used it in my university days in 1991...

You are being pedantic.

(I used it too

 

[WhoDaKat]

I really hate siding with Evil, Inc. but sometimes lots of people use a product because it’s better. Google search is simply better. I so want to switch to DuckDuckGo, but I can literally find anything on Google and I have not had the same experience with any other search engine.

 

[yurc]

Also bah, Google search quality is going downhill since 2017, more less relevant result.

The most annoyed me when first page of result is mostly shopping link crap when searching review of specific gadget/stuff.

 

[Murdock12]

Other search engines should, well, be better? I remember looking up the address for a government office with Bing because I was on my work computer and Bing was the default engine on my browser...it directed my to transgender prostitution services. That was awesome to have on my work computer, let me tell ya! Made the same query on Google and all was fine.

 

[cmaier]

Other search engines should, well, be better? I remember looking up the address for a government office with Bing because I was on my work computer and Bing was the default engine on my browser...it directed my to transgender prostitution services. That was awesome to have on my work computer, let me tell ya! Made the same query on Google and all was fine.

1) how do we know there isn’t a transgender prostitution service operating out of that building?
2) MS would claim that they need more search volume in order to improve their service, because they learn from queries.

 

[jonblatho]

How will you feel when Apple gets sued over their App Store tactics?

Can’t speak for that poster, but exactly the same way as they did. Break ‘em all up.

 

[DexBell]

We all know this has very little to do with a monopoly and much more to do with how big tech is going full communist China in censoring conservative voices and manipulating their search engines to hide stories they don’t want people to see and to push stories that fit their political and social agendas they want seen.

 

[cmaier]

We all know this has very little to do with a monopoly and much more to do with how big tech is going full communist China in censoring conservative voices and manipulating their search engines to hide stories they don’t want people to see and to push stories that fit their political and social agendas they want seen.

Even if this was true, and it’s not, these companies have a right to free speech, which includes the right to not allow speech on their platform that they don’t like. Just like I can’t go to your home and stick a sign in your front yard without your permission.

(BTW, big tech censors progressive news, not fascist news:

Facebook deliberately made changes to show you less news from Mother Jones

We knew, but now we know.

www.motherjones.com

)

 

[truthertech]

Everyone is cheering like this is final. It still needs to go through the upper courts, can get appealed, etc etc. dragging this out to years down the road.

No, they haven’t even had a trial yet. There’s no need to be thinking about appellate courts at this time.