Search, done. Ads, done. What next for Google? Domain registration Google is poised to further its dominance of all things internet with a move into domain-name registration. Plenty of people find companies online by typing their names into Google Search, rather than typing their URLs into their browsers, but the launch of Google Domains will mark the first time the online ad-slinger has …
Well, it could be a monopoly issue if they use their "dominant position in search to drive business to their (Domain Registration|Travel|Shopping|Mapping) site, discriminating against competitors". As they have been rapped on the knuckles for 3 of the preceding, the OP raises a valid point.
Sorry but no valid point made and using the pedant icon doesn't make your point valid either.
Firstly Google are not a monopoly in search, but they may be dominant.
Secondly this is a market they have not yet entered so how can this "[raise] a monopoly and/or anti-trust regulatory issues"?
Thirdly they were not rapped on the knuckles, sanctioned or fined for driving business to their other entities, an investigation took place but Google agreed to make changes during that investigation to ensure there would be no implication of illegal activities.
You are allowed to access other markets, even vertical markets. You are not allowed to tie up the whole vertical chain by using abusive practices and if you find yourself being the only supplier in the vertical market then you are then a monopoly and are subject to tight controls to make sure you don't abuse that position.
Google entering a market with plenty of healthy competition and that is very unlikely to change in the short term, is not raising a monopoly or an anti-trust issue (buying up every viable company in that sector, however, would be).
"Thirdly they were not rapped on the knuckles, sanctioned or fined for driving business to their other entities, an investigation took place but Google agreed to make changes during that investigation to ensure there would be no implication of illegal activities."
I think having to reform your business to not be illegal, or risk being found to be illegal, counts as a rap on the knuckles.
The key here is that a "Dominant position" counts as a monopoly position. MS was considered a monopoly with Windows. Apple existed, as did Linux, but Windows was the dominant player. When they used that dominant position to drive their browser business, they got into trouble.
Google was a dominant, but not sole, player in search, and still faced anti-trust issues.
I hope that it won't become an anti-trust issue, but with Google, any new web product/service could become an anti-trust issue, because they do have a dominant position in search, and most people find a web product or service via Google.
Yep, I read the article.
I'm meaning this seems very much like what Microsoft used to do. They used to use their dominance in one industry (windows) to enter new markets and take them over. (rinse and repeat)
Eventually, Microsoft got in trouble for this behaviour. (how effective the "punishment" was, I don't remember)
Anyway, this is what Google appears to be doing.
GoDaddy stole £40 from me. Paid for a domain and hosting, then tried to get FTP details through their awful online system with no luck. Went to LCN and the domain I'd paid for was available, so I just paid LCN to get the exact thing I'd paid GoDaddy for, and which was supposed to be owned by me.
Awful company. Don't fall for their pathetic Irish head in a bag ads.
I wonder if this is more of a Google Apps thing but targeted at individuals rather than organisations. I think the main barrier for a lot of individuals would have been the technical steps of setting up DNS records etc to work with Google Apps - perhaps by becoming a registrar they remove the need for these steps.
I sorely miss the discontinued free version of Google Apps when I have to use my domain registrar's email services, and don't really want to spend $5 a month per user for Gmail-with-a-fancy-domain so depending on pricing this would be something quite interesting to me.
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