Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by andromedaworld 2892 days ago
> fined a record €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) for using its search engine to steer internet users towards its own shopping platform

The EU is totally bonkers!!! And these fines are largely uncalled for. It's their site; why shouldn't a business up-sell to their customers? I know plenty of people who do it all the time. That's part of the point of being in business. If a user doesn't want to buy from Google, simply don't click the buy button.
5 comments
blub 2892 days ago
Christ, this topic is rife with misinformation.

Google search is the door to the internet for a majority of the world population. And then they had the brilliant idea to give their own services prime real estate on this door, thereby completely screwing alternative providers out of the traffic.

link
baud147258 2892 days ago
I think it's called abuse of a dominant position, considering that Google has a quasi-monopoly in search engine in Europe.
link
andromedaworld 2892 days ago
I don't think there's anything wrong with a monopoly that isn't state enforced. Their IP, their servers, why shouldn't they enjoy a monopoly? Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

It is when you involve the state in creating a monopoly that you have problems. Consumers continue to patronize a business to the point of it being a monopoly because it serves them well. In a free market environment, this cannot be a bad thing.

link
whateveruser 2892 days ago
Its not about upselling. It is about Google leveraging their effective monopoly as a search engine (in EU, >60%) to unfair advantage in other industries (retail). MS got into same trouble over IE in US as well.
link
seren 2892 days ago
What a company is actually doing it not "that" relevant in that case.

Is it much more related to the fact they already have a quasi monopoly on one domain, and they leverage it to acquire more power or market share in another area.

link
smt88 2892 days ago
Why shouldn't they? Because it harms competition and because Google is a near-monopoly. That situation gives Google the power to kill competitors, and that's bad for everyone except Google.
link
andromedaworld 2892 days ago
See my response here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17608171
link