Google is a very popular search engine. Recently, Google created a new search engine that gathers information from Google+, a social media site similar to that of Facebook. But the problem lies not with the creation of the new site, but with how it searches.
This new site, titled, Search Plus Your World, is Google's latest innovation. The site is designed to filter the results that it gives you so that it fits exactly what you are searching for. The problem, however, is that Google is only gathering information from Google+. That means if you search a persons name, you will not find their Facebook profile, Twitter account, or any other website that links that person to a social media website. This all seems fine to an average person, but Google+'s main competitors (Facebook, Twitter, ect.) are not happy with this at all. They feel that Google is essentially monopolizing the search engine industry and is preventing information from such sites to be shown to the masses. The only way that a Facebook or Twitter account could be found using this new search site would be if those companies were to join forces with Google+ (Horizontal integration (Brownie points?)).
A quote from comScore states, “Is Google a monopoly? With control of two-thirds of the U.S. search market, it is legally within the realm.” With this said, Google may be defined as a monopoly in this particular situation. The question is , however, whether this can be definitively proven in a court of law.
More information can be found here:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/18/technology/google_search/index.htm
My question to you is: Because Google is such a popular search engine, do you think that the site could actually be deemed a monopoly? If so, what do you think would come of the site?
I think that because Google is such a popular search engine, it could very well become a monopoly on social networking. I know that if I were to google Facebook, at the very top of the page, highlighted in blue, there is google's version of Facebook. The actual website, Facebook, is about for or five options down. My eye goes to the site highlighted in blue first, which means I am more likely to click on those websites. Google could very easily become the new Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. in just a few more years if they continue to expand. By law, Google is not a monopoly, but it could very soon become one in a few short years.
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with Laura! I do not think that Google is currently a monopoly, but it is on the pathway to possible becoming a monopoly in the future. Google is an extremely popular search engine; however, if it starts slowly drawing attention away from the plethora of other search engines, it will soon weed out its competition, thus making it a monopoly. If I remember correctly, Nate told us that Google and Google products made up about two-thirds of the search engines. By definition, this is not a monopoly because a monopoly would have to have total control over all search engines. Actions should be taken to ensure that Google does not become a monopoly because but only are monopolies not good for the economy, a monopoly with search engines could decide what information we are provided with.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Laura and Lauren that google currently is not a monopoly, but however I believe with google expanding and as Lauren said; owning two thirds of search engines then eventually google will become a monopoly. Everytime a person uses google as a search engine, google will only provide them with the top results and list other websites way down on the list. Google controlling the order of sites that come up first when the search engine is used and owning more than half of search engines eliminates google's competetors power such as Facebook and Twitter on the web. If google keeps integrating horizontally with other search engines, then in a few short years google could become the next monopoly on the web unless action is taken to limit googles ability to eliminate their competitors and control our search tools.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Google has yet to become a monopoly but with the technology there is today, I believe that it most certainly will. Without Google people would be lost, Google provides people with research and answers to their questions. I know that Google defiantly has more power than Facebook, Twitter etc. I agree with Greg that there needs to be limits on how much Google should be able to control.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Laura, Lauren, and Greg when they say that Google is not yet a complete monopoly, but on day could become one. I think that since they control such a huge percentage of the search engine market, they should have an eye kept on them. Google's only real competition is Bing, but that still isn't anywhere close to Google's popularity. Because they don't have much competition, Google can keep buying other small search engine companies to one day control everything we search for. If Google did become a monopoly, I think that the only real downside to it would be that it could control what order things appear in the search list, so if you type in "social networking site", Google may place Google+ at the top of the list and things like Facebook and Twitter farther down or on another page. Since Google is free, I do not think that there is much danger if it does become a monopoly, as the danger with something like AT&T becoming a monopoly is that they could charge whatever that wanted for phone service and people would have to pay for it. Overall, I don't think that it would be a huge deal if google became a monopoly because people could still find what they are looking for on the web, and since it is free to use, there is no worry about them overcharging for their services.
ReplyDeleteWell in terms of search engines, I would agree with my classmates that Google could very well become a monopoly in that area. But in the social networking industry I think Zuckerberg still has control of that. Twitter is also starting to increase its popularity. Google+ still has a few years to go before it can catch up. Then maybe there will be an all-out war when that time comes. According to Todd Wasserman from Mashable, as of February 28, 2012, Google Plus users are averaging only 3.3 minutes monthly on the site, while Facebook users average 7.5 hours monthly. When I see this statistic, it makes me think that many Google+ members are just creating accounts to see what it is and then never checking on it again. So Google would have to devise of a way to keep their users coming back. But they have the search engine industry where they want it. Google is the most popular search engine and it's just because people prefer it more. You can't stop people from liking it more, it's their choice. No one says "Hey Bing that!" or "Can you AskJeeves?" The government might try to limit Google, but I think a lot of people would be against that because Google is very helpful. I find it the easiest to use when searching something. The government should just let Google have the search engine industry.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates above that Google is currently not a monopoly. Although, Lauren made a valid point, Google owns two thirds of search engines therefore; eventually Google will become a monopoly. When people use Google as a search engine to look something up, Google ONLY provides them with the top results and websites on the first page, leaving other websites towards the end of the list that are least accurate. Because Google controls the order of the sites that are listed when you search something, it disregards and gets rid of Google’s main competitor power like: Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and MySpace. Google is bound to become the next monopoly on the web because they have so much power and control. The only way to prevent Google from becoming a monopoly would be to limit Google’s ability to eliminate their competitors through their searches.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is currently monopolized I think and agree with eveyone above. Buy I think that it monopolized because we let it become so popular. We let it become so popukar because we need it almost. I know if google wasn't as accessible as it is I could honestly say I don't know what I'd do for school. We use it everyday almost and i dont rightky see the need to use anything else im okay with it being so popular. There is no need for Google look a likes. I personaly hate yahoo searches and dred Bing searches. So I'm alright with the monopoly
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates that google is not yet monopoly but it is on its way to becoming one. I feel that since google does not show searches from it's competitors then it will be a monopoly because it will have total control. Also, as Allie said the only way to stop google from having total control is to stop it from eliminating searches from its competitors. If google does become a monopoly, I think people will not like the fact that the only search engine is google because it's competitors have been eliminated.
ReplyDeleteAlthough google is a very popular site I disagree with the statements above. Google can not be a monopoly because it's not the only search engine out there. The public has it's choices between search engines such as bing and ask. So no, that would not make google a monopoly
ReplyDeleteI don't think that google will be classified as a monopoly because of its size. I do not think that they will be categorized as a monopoly because there are many other search engines available to consumers. IF they are classified as a monopoly, I think that the only thing that would happen to them is that they would either be forced to change the coding of the search engine to allow equal viewing to other search engines and social networking sites, or their google plus search engine may be taken down.
ReplyDeleteI agree with sofia and alex that google is not a monopoly for the reason that there is countless amounts of other search engines on the internet. Google is a very popular search engine but there is still other out there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sofia and think that this shouldn't be considered a monopoly because there are many other search engines and also many other social networking sites. It isn't like the only way you can find Facebook is by 'googleing' it, you could just type in facebook.com. I think making their social networking site appear higher should just be considered trying to advertise it more and make people see it and notice it. And i think that them making it so when you type in someones name, and their facebook profile not showing up, is also just trying to help out their own website. Now that they have their own social networking site, they shouldn't have to allow these other sites to show up.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Allie in saying that Google is not yet a monopoly, but in a way could become one. Although Google does provide the most accurate searches, Google could be biased as to which sites are the most accurate. By controlling what sites come up first and what sites are further down on the results, Google can make sure that its competitors aren't getting as much advertisement as other sites are. Although that's just regular competition, Google is one the the largest search engines so if it doesn't advertise the other websites, than they will be come less and less popular if people aren't directed to them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates in that Google should not be considered a monopoly. If we consider Google a monopoly then we must consider the television networks that promote the products that they own, a monopoly. I think business is business, and if our country plans on continuing a "hands off" approach in business, then companies can promote their services and products in ways they find efficient. I agree with Evan. If there are people that have a problem with the way Google works, then they can use other search engine sites. I also agree with Mike in that anyone can find any site they want by typing the website into the address bar.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that Google is a monopoly, i just think that it is very successful. They definitely know what they are doing and they can do it right. And if it were ever to get to that point were it is a monopoly so be it, why punish something because of how successful it is? I just think that the people at Google are very smart and they know how to run things, therefore that is why they are so successful.
ReplyDeleteTHIS DISCUSSION IS NOW CLOSED. COMMENTS AFTER THIS POINT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR CREDIT
ReplyDelete