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the_aruntoday at 6:41 PM5 repliesview on HN

If google is serving 90% traffic & others are unable to enter - Doesn't that mean google is doing something right for the customer and others are unable to outcompete it? Isn't this how life works?


Replies

CGMthrowawaytoday at 6:45 PM

Google is allowed to be big, be better and win users. But happy customers is not the full test of monopolization. The real question is, "Could a meaningfully better search engine realistically displace Google today?” If the answer is no, then competition is broken

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rafterydjtoday at 6:47 PM

This is a woefully naive view on the nature of monopolies. You could have made the same argument for Standard Oil.

hamdingerstoday at 7:16 PM

Is the user's choice to use google a meaningful one when they're effectively the only game in town?

giantrobottoday at 7:30 PM

Google must be right for the customer because Google pays billions of dollars to be the default search engine for all the major browsers. And end users are notorious for changing application defaults.

soiltypetoday at 6:52 PM

...No. Not at all. Not in the case of Google and generally that's not "how life works". If it was true, why would Google spend so much money to be the default search engine in so many devices/browsers?