Google Shoots Itself in the FootÂ
As France clamps down on Google’s mischievous behavior, we take a closer look at the risk of the search engine being broken up. It’s already had a warning, but it’s still treading a fine line!Â
If you sit in Congress and are hungry to break up a tech giant, look no further than Google. Under fire for destroying its competition, Google is the most natural target for anti-monopoly politicians (which should be all of them). “Competition is only a click away,” pleads the search engine, but it’s so dominant its name now counts as a verb in the Oxford English Dictionary.
When you ‘Google’ the nearest kebab shop, the first thing that pops up is Google Maps. TripAdvisor comes way down the list. The company has kicked off Twitter storms for removing rival video-sharing websites in favor of Youtube, which is something you’ll know because the search engine primarily displays Twitter feeds, not Facebook or LinkedIn posts. It doesn’t help itself, does it?
These are the good times for Alphabet investors, who’ve made fat stacks off the company’s stock in recent years. Eventually, however, Washington will force Google to change its ways, and then the market will start betting on the outcome of an ultimate acid test! Can Google deliver as the government becomes its main competitor?