[currysausage]

> And there are industries that aren't natural monopolies that are strictly regulated.

Like pharmaceutical companies? Like those WMD manufacturers that you mention quite often? Lifes are at stake there. That's another good justification for regulation.

> Android market share could easily become high enough that Google could retain their monopoly even with inferior search technology.

You may not be able to switch the search provider of your Android phone's default home screen (but you can install a different home screen). The European Commission is investigating a potential abuse of market power re Android right now, but that's a different battleground.

As long as there is no indication of abuse concerning Google's algorithm, which is what we were talking about, I believe said algorithm isn't any government's business.

[learc83]

>Lifes are at stake there. That's another good justification for regulation.

Banks, and publicly traded companies are also heavily regulated.

90% of people will only ever use Google search. To them Google is the internet. Google has just as much power to harm just as many people as a bank does. We regulate the bank to avoid potential financial harm, why can't we regulate Google?

>As long as there is no indication of abuse concerning Google's algorithm, which is what we were talking about, I believe said algorithm isn't any government's business.

That's the point, without any way to audit Google, there is no way to know they aren't abusing their position in ways that are difficult to detect.

When a company has amassed as much power as Google has, I think it's perfectly acceptable to shift the burden of proof to them instead of taking them at their word--force a bit of transparency (without requiring them to release trade secrets to their competitors.)