Business Law(Advanced)
“TheEuropean Union Issues Record Fine against Google in Antitrust Case”
Just google it. Googles search engine is so dominant that thecompany name has become a verb synonymous with conducting an Internet search.According to the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager,Google has become too dominant, at least with respect to comparison shoppingand product searches. For that reason, the European Union (EU) spent sevenyears investigating Googles trade practices. The investigation culminated in2017 with with a record fine of $2.7 billion and a ruling that Google hadbreached EU antitrust regulations by abusing its dominant position in thesearch engine market.
“GooglePut Its Shopping Results above Other Search Results”
The EUclaimed that for nearly ten years, Google had promoted its own comparisonshopping service at the expense of competitors. It did this by positioning andprominently displaying its comparison shopping service in its general searchresult pages, irrespective of its merits. As a result, users [did] notnecessarily see the most relevant results in response to queriesto thedetriment of consumers and rival comparison shopping services.
Google hascontended that it cannot change its core software and that the results in itssearch algorithms are based on relevance. In addition, Google has argued thatit has actually boosted traffic to its Web competitors. Indeed, search engineshave proliferated on the Web, suggesting that Googles success has noteliminated competition.
Nevertheless,the EUs decision ordered Google to change the way it displays search resultsin the EUor face more fines. When Google shows comparison-shopping services inresponse to a users query, the search results should show the most relevantservices first.
Google hasappealed the EUs order. Experts predict that the dispute could continue foryears.
“TheCompartmentalization of a Search on the Web”
More and more frequently, Internet users do not engage ingeneral searches. Instead, they know exactly where to go to obtain productinformation. When they want information on movies, for instance, they go to theInternet Movie Data Base (IMDB) rather than to Google. When they wantinformation on music, they go to iTunes. When they want to search for thecheapest airfares, they go to Kayak or similar sites. When they want to findthe best rates on hotels, they go to sites such as ,tripadvisor.com, and trivago.com. And when they are interested in buying aproduct, they frequently go to Amazon or eBay. Amazon, in particular, hasfine-tuned its ability to generate advertising revenues through itsAmazon-sponsored links.
And, ofcourse, social media must be considered. More people are on social media sitesthan ever before, particularly on their mobile devices. Users spend four timesmore time on Facebook than they do on Google. These users oftencrowdsourcethat is, look for answers from Facebook friends rather thansearch on Google. Facebook is also becoming increasingly competitive withGoogle in the services it offers, including mobile payments and the FacebookMessenger instant-messaging service.
CriticalThinking
How does the increasing popularityof specialized search engines weaken the EUs argument that Google has harmedconsumers?
*****Be sure to give specific details and answer the question.
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