Google deserves antitrust scrutiny not just for its control of search and web advertising, but also for engaging in very Microsoft-like tactics in the way it favors its preferred web browser software.
Mozilla Firefox famously has a very sweet deal over search referral revenue it receives from Google, a deal that other browsers don't get -- not IE certainly, and not Opera, iRider, Safari or anyone else. Mozilla's is being revised now because Google has produced its own browser called Chrome. Google leverages all the eyeballs that see its search pages in order to promote Chrome very aggressively. This isn't quite like bundling IE with Windows, but it's definitely a dominant company using its leverage aggressively, and it's amazing how little skepticism there's been about the politics of Chrome.
And I'm surprised Lyons didn't mention Google's acquisition of DoubleClick, a big internet advertising company. One wonders whether that deal would have been approved now, after the sudden demise of laissez faire orthodoxy.
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They Might Be a Little Evil
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Nobody knows if Google has abused its power, but last year Google generated $22 billion in revenues and $4.2 billion in net profits. Success alone is not an indication of malfeasance, of course. But historically, it's been the surest way for tech companies to attract trouble—in fact, it's almost become a rite of passage. IBM suffered through a 13-year antitrust case during the 1970s; a decade ago it was Microsoft's turn. In May, European regulators levied a $1.45 billion fine against Intel over allegations it abused its power to keep rival AMD from gaining market share.
Making an antitrust case against Google will be incredibly difficult. For one thing, Google's business, while simple in concept, is magnificently complicated in its execution. The value of keywords fluctuates constantly. And the system is managed by the most powerful computer center on the planet, programmed by an army of the world's most brilliant programmers. Who can unravel all that? In fact, Google's complexity may be its best defense, like a thicket of thorny bushes, impossible for investigators to hack through. On top of this is the tricky business of antitrust law. A case against Google could drag on for years, as did the one against Microsoft.
Then again, the challenge of building such a case against the most powerful tech company in the world may itself be an inducement—so tempting that ambitious trustbusters can't resist making the effort.
Lyons is NEWSWEEK’s technology editor and the author of Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs.
© 2009
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