Continued:
"So we're making them, and we're penalizing any dealerships that are still selling black cars."
"So we're making them, and we're penalizing any dealerships that are still selling black cars."
If a car manufacturer used to sell black cars, then added other colors, if their own dealers refused to sell the additional colors, it would be entirely reasonable for the manufacturer to step in (since it hurts the manufacturer's brand). So in that analogy, the manufacturer is right.
The reality is that Google aren't a car manufacturer, they're more like a car magazine. Suddenly they decide not to feature trucks, and therefore Bobs BigTruckin modal X2000 coming out next month is penalised because they won't be featured in the next issue.
Is it "fair?" In general, yes, but in this specific case because Google holds a monopoly on the market you could argue it is unfair. A lot of sites will suddenly see a large drop-off of traffic if they didn't get the memo, because so many depend on Google for redirects.
So Google is punishing competitors for something they do themselves.
This is all looking like Google just wants to make the EU regulators angry.
1. http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-penalizes-chrome/3...