[Riesling]

Well, regarding privacy, google is in the wrong! They are collecting all the data they possible can and then transfer them to the U.S. where Europeans do not enjoy any right to privacy (which is considered a basic human right here). This is just trying to make a foreign company comply with European laws. I do not see a problem here. If the process was totally transparent (where does the data go, who uses the data) European citizens could make an informed decision. But this is not the case. It is totally intransparent. Who knows what the data is used for? The EU has the duty to protect its citizens.

As for the retribution of newspaper headlines. This might be some form of protectionism.

Calling Bing and Yahoo an alternative to google honors them. Just try them both exclusively for one week and see if you would really call them that.