Google should respond by blocking Amazon in their search results. Then Amazon will really see who gets hurt the most.
Google should do what Amazon does and when search for a Fire give the person a chromecast.
No, not in general, but have you seen the comments on this story? I wouldn't call them stellar and well thought.
Just because it's an invaluable service now core to using the internet, doesn't make it a public utility.
Here's the actual difference:
If Google started blocking Amazon search results there would be an upoar.
Amazon has blocked selling certain Google items, and there is barely a whimper.
Here's the other difference: When GOogle shows Amazon search results, and users go through those results to make an Amazon purchase, Google gets a cut. That's how e-commerce works on the internet.
I don't have any horses in this race, so I am not trying to take anybody's side, but since you ask, here is my opinion:
A retailer is by default selecting what items to sell.
A search engine is by default crawling everything.
So one is kind of opt-in and the other opt-out.
In response to a competitor being a big meanie, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read about why they smell in our blog.
They already got in trouble with the European union for promoting their own sites in search due to their market share.
There is a point where the EU may have to take steps beyond fines, and bar Google from doing business in... effectively, an entire continent. I don't know where that point is, but if a company doesn't really care about the fines for it's illegal activity and continues to violate the law, you've got to escalate.
And that wouldn't just impact Google's global profits, but it'd likely entail shutting down multiple Google offices in multiple countries, and if their employees weren't interested in immigrating to another country, they'd potentially lose a lot of talent as well.
I just had a look at Alphabet's stock graph from this year. I couldn't tell from it when the fine happened. So I guess they can afford another two of those.
> There is a point where the EU may have to take steps beyond fines, and bar Google from doing business in... effectively, an entire continent.
I doubt that we're anywhere near that point. Google is way too important, I also guess that the population wouldn't like everything-Google gone.
Google could even threaten to brick all Android phones in the EU, no one would risk that.
At risk of losing their data due to a legal fight, everyone would migrate their email away from Gmail. Businesses would transfer away from G Suite.
Google would never even threaten to brick all Android phones, because even threatening it would likely put them out of business.
> There is a point where the EU may have to take steps beyond fines, and bar Google from doing business in... effectively, an entire continent.
If Google couldn't do any business in the EU, they would be going out of business anyway. So they might as well leave with a bang ;)
I mean, sure, their stock price would probably crater if they got kicked out of the EU, but they've got half a trillion dollars lying around, it's not like they're actually in need of money.
But such a outright hostile act as you suggest would lose them every partner and resource they have on a global scale.
The same applies for the EU though: It would be quite a hostile act to ban Google from doing any business in the EU, so I think this won't happen either.
Google could remove Amazon app from play store. Or remove Amazon from search. Or change terms of Android that Amazon uses for the Fire and Echo.