[ucaetano]

But that isn't a monopoly.

Imagine Coca-Cola creates a new flavor, with a taste so unique that nobody else is able to replicate it.

Is that a monopoly? Is Coca-Cola abusing its power?

No, and no.

[smt88]

As others have pointed out, you just seem to be using a different definition than the rest of us are.

A single, unreplicated product is never considered a monopoly. A monopoly implies that customers don't have an alternative.

[ucaetano]

> As others have pointed out, you just seem to be using a different definition than the rest of us are.

The Supreme Court has defined market power as "the ability to raise prices above those that would be charged in a competitive market,"(8) and monopoly power as "the power to control prices or exclude competition."

You can use whatever definition you want, doesn't make it right or useful. HN readers talking about economics is largely like economists talking about computer science.

[dageshi]

Google has a single unique flavour of search engine, it's very popular, it's not the only one but it's the one people prefer...

How is it any different?

[treis]

Google used it's search engine dominance to expand into analytics, advertising, e-mail, maps, mobile apps, browser, and probably more things I can't think of off the top of my head. Take maps for example. They drove (or bought) their competitors out of business to become the dominant player and then dramatically raised the cost of their API. That's classic abusive monopolistic behavior.

Or look at the browser. Adblockers have been the number 1 extension since browser extensions were a thing. It doesn't take a genius to see why they aren't built into Chrome/FF. It's another classic abuse of a monopoly. They used search to bully their way into being the dominant browser and they use that dominance to protect their ad business.

[ucaetano]

> They drove (or bought) their competitors out of business to become the dominant player and then dramatically raised the cost of their API.

You mean maps? The Maps API is still far cheaper than what you'd have to pay to license and deploy maps from a 3rd party before them.

Hard to argue that things are worse now...

PS: Even then, there are a lot of other map APIs available in the market, and users have been switching. That is literally the antithesis of a monopoly...

[treis]

>You mean maps? The Maps API is still far cheaper than what you'd have to pay to license and deploy maps from a 3rd party before them.

You mean the API is cheaper now than what other companies offered 13 years ago? That's irrelevant even if it's true.

>Hard to argue that things are worse now...

It's clearly worse. Instead of being able to choose from competing vendors you're effectively stuck with Google and your business depends on their whims.

[ucaetano]

> You mean the API is cheaper now than what other companies offered 13 years ago? That's irrelevant even if it's true.

No, it isn't. How can you prove consumer harm if there's more choice at lower prices?

> Instead of being able to choose from competing vendors you're effectively stuck with Google and your business depends on their whims.

There are plenty of other vendors to choose from. Did you miss all the "we switched from Google Maps to XXX" posts on Hacker News?

[smt88]

Google abuses its power, similar to what a monopoly can/does do, without strictly being a monopoly.

That's part of what the original article is discussing.

[ucaetano]

That doesn't make any sense...