[gumby]

They are probably worrying that if they did it would open a floodgate of challenges, lawsuits and political attacks.

As the last paragraph of this essay points out: tough. Google needs to step up and deal with the consequences of its own size.

[golemotron]

> Google needs to step up and deal with the consequences of its own size.

This is where regulation can help.

[gumby]

This is an under-appreciated factor in regulation ignored by the reflexive "regulation bad" crowd. Companies can welcome regulation, and not in a malign, regulatory capture fashion.

One case could be this one: doing the right thing could open you up to attacks from bad actors. A regulation could give you air cover (and legal cover).

Or lets say you want to be more environmentally friendly but customers won't pay extra. Your competitors do too, but of course you can't agree to do this (that's collusion). A regulation removes the risk and is applied to all.