Google and Investigations
Over the past few years, big tech companies and social media platforms have been under constant observance and investigations by multiple states and nations for antitrust violations, monopolization, and censorship. Companies, such as, Google and Facebook have been the main targets of these investigations with both being hit by massive fines by both the United States and the European Union. Google is one, if not the biggest internet-based company in the world. It has many investments, branches, and a great amount of influence and power among the internet. This is where a great deal of controversy comes from about these types of companies. Recently, fifty U.S. attorney generals launched an investigation into Google about multiple antitrust violations and the possibility of monopolization on the internet. Forty-eight states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico have all agreed to investigate Google. The states of California and Alabama are the only two states that have refused to be part of any investigations.
What are the types of accusations that Google is being investigated for? All of the fifty attorney generals are in agreeance that Google has abused their power and influence that they have over the internet. However, there are many areas that the investigation is to cover. One of the main reasons for this investigation, is the claims of Google monopolizing and manipulating the internet for Google’s preferences. The example that the lawmakers use is how Google has their hands into every aspect of the internet; from a personal browser, email, calendar, maps, apps, and even social media, such as YouTube. The idea is how users cannot do anything without seeing an advertisement for Google or using one of their apps. This has caused many smaller businesses to crumble, and it leaves very little room for competitors. Another abuse of their power, is how Google forces advertisers to conduct their business and promotions through hidden clauses and under handed tactics, making sure that Google ads are first to be seen, and that some companies can only use Google as their advertisement platform. Recent numbers show that Google takes in 31% of the revenue generated by online advertisement, and Google is used 9 out of 10 times when it comes to internet use and searches. Another section of the investigation is how Google carries out censorship and violates the 1st amendment, especially through YouTube!
What does these investigations mean, and what could be some of the possible outcomes? In the past, investigations such as these usually lead to large fines on the companies themselves or on the executive boards. This usually is a result of how powerful these companies are, and what they can get away with. However, these cases have been happening increase for the past few years, and many of them have become increasingly tense and high risk. There can could be some interesting results that could resort from cases this large against Google. One approach could be a major crackdown on Google itself and on other companies in the concept of major laws and regulations that could limit the power that these companies possess. A more extreme and highly unlikely action that the government could take against Google, would be a forced breakup of its internet assets and a high limit of how much influence that they can have on the internet. Only time and the findings that these investigations uncover could determine the outcome for companies like Google.
Source:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-antitrust-probe-48-u-s-states-launch-antitrust-investigation-of-google-dominance-in-search-ads-and-data/
Comments
Post a Comment