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U.S. Government Accuses Google of Monopolistic Practices via @martinibuster https://ift.tt/3nyOyez A House Antitrust Subcommittee released a 450 page report that accused Google of creating it’s market dominance through anti-competitive behavior. The report offers suggestions on how to stop Google and restore more competition, including in the search results. Report Claims Google Created a MonopolyThe section of the report focused on Google straightforwardly accuses Google of being a monopoly in the very first sentence.
Then it outlines the strategies it says Google employed to achieve that monopoly and hold on to it. The report asserts that Google maintains the monopoly through browser and mobile device default settings that gives Google preference over competitors, forcing phone manufacturers to make Google’s apps the default as well as using acquisitions as a way to achieve market dominance. The report also claims that Google’s monopoly allows Google to force its products and services on users, puts businesses that need traffic at a disadvantage and crowds out competitors in verticals that Google competes in. Advertisement Continue Reading Below Google Accused of Anti-competitive TacticsThe report accuses Google of maintaining it’s dominance by using anti-competitive tactics. Among the tactics Google was accused of using were:
According to the report:
Documents Suggest Google Used Android to Force it’s DominanceThe House Sub-committee reviewed documents that they claimed demonstrated that Google required mobile phone companies to give Google preference as a way to manufacture market dominance and lock out competitors. The report asserted that Google’s mobile dominance was not achieved by merit but through the use of forced requirements. According to the report:
Advertisement Continue Reading Below Google Accused of Using Acquisitions to Create a MonopolyAs an example of Google’s anti-competitive activity the report cited Google Maps. It said that Google Maps dominance was achieved by an “anticompetitive acquisition.” The report, which also investigated Apple, Amazon and Facebook, accused all the organizations (including Google) of using mergers and acquisitions as part of a strategy to stop or prevent competitors and to build a dominant position.
House Subcommittee Suggestions for Restoring CompetitionThe House Subcommittee report proposed solutions for restoring competition and preventing digital companies from manufacturing their market dominance.
The House Subcommittee report also suggested:
Findings May Affect Google SERPsThe impact of the report was to suggest future changes to laws as well as to how mergers and acquisitions are handled. The goal of these changes are to restore competition. Advertisement Continue Reading Below Some of the changes may affect how Google search will appear in the future. For example, Congress may implement rules that prohibits design changes that favor the search platform and excludes competitors, regardless of whether the change benefits users.
The reference to section 2 is about rules to prohibit “self-preferencing ” and “favoritism” which is something Google was accused of doing in the search results where it favored it’s own verticals. If the report results in new laws and regulations, Google may find itself having to change the search results. CitationSEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh October 9, 2020 at 02:34AM
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