Exclusive deals can present antitrust issues, but the kicker is that this isn't even an exclusive deal, it's a default deal! Users can still can still use other search engines on iOS devices.
You can change the default of Safari, but not for Siri. "Search the Internet" voice command always uses Google. I'm personally hoping that either part of this lawsuit or part of their Siri upgrade allows us to change it.
I believe it's because they were using their monopoly power to give that software away for free, while their competitors couldn't and ended up selling or going out of business.
The DOJ should really be looking at things like YouTube, which doesn't make any profit (I don't believe) but since Google proper supports it, no one can compete with it. That might be why Google is pushing so hard against ad blockers, they need to make YouTube profitable to avoid prosecution.
using Kagi is pretty clumsy. We iOS users get to pick from a pretty limited list. In reality we should be able to set search to any endpiont that handles the ‘q’ param
Defaults matter. Google's internal communication indicates that they know this. Microsoft testified that defaults matter and that unless they (or anyone else) could put up more money than Google then they had no shot.
You could innovate and make a better product and it doesn't matter because you can't outbid Google.
It's a widespread assumption that defaults matter. But to what degree? I came across it first when I saw Dan Ariely's talk and his work on defaults (may not be the proponent)[1] but my takeaway is that it matters when you don't care about the as much.
For everyone with Windows, you start off with Edge/IE and then Bing as a default search engine. Yet, most switch to Chrome + Google almost instantly. People care about their browsing experience more than we give them credit for. Remember in 2009-10 when Chrome was new, it managed to win market share cos of superior product when it was not the default on Windows/Linux/MacOSX.
On mobile too, the behavior is likely going to be there to a certain degree. While Google pays Apple a massive fee, there was an admission earlier in the trial that both Mozilla and Apple would still go ahead w Google (even without the deals) because of superior UX. Not sure if both said it, but one of them certainly did.
In Europe Androids have had user decided default browser/search engine selection in the out of box set up for years. Google still wins massively because users know it is simply a superior product.
brainbag|2 years ago
tantalor|2 years ago
layer8|2 years ago
Clubber|2 years ago
The DOJ should really be looking at things like YouTube, which doesn't make any profit (I don't believe) but since Google proper supports it, no one can compete with it. That might be why Google is pushing so hard against ad blockers, they need to make YouTube profitable to avoid prosecution.
davidodio|2 years ago
2OEH8eoCRo0|2 years ago
You could innovate and make a better product and it doesn't matter because you can't outbid Google.
ankit219|2 years ago
For everyone with Windows, you start off with Edge/IE and then Bing as a default search engine. Yet, most switch to Chrome + Google almost instantly. People care about their browsing experience more than we give them credit for. Remember in 2009-10 when Chrome was new, it managed to win market share cos of superior product when it was not the default on Windows/Linux/MacOSX. On mobile too, the behavior is likely going to be there to a certain degree. While Google pays Apple a massive fee, there was an admission earlier in the trial that both Mozilla and Apple would still go ahead w Google (even without the deals) because of superior UX. Not sure if both said it, but one of them certainly did.
[1] https://danariely.com/the-power-of-defaults-in-how-we-eat/
ion1c|2 years ago