Google Will Collapse
medium.com
medium.com
I only added that part in the updated version a couple months ago because after learning everything I have about Brave since writing the article, I would feel remiss not mentioning it. What Brave is building truly feels to me like the best antidote to the adtech monstrosity Google and Facebook have created, and Brave is the only company I see with a clear vision on how to solve the problems for all parties (users, publishers, and advertisers).
If Brave was just another startup tackling a big problem, I wouldn't even think of mentioning it. But Brendan Eich is the one running this company, and he is undeniably one of the most influential people in the history of the web. He created the protocol that moved the web from 1.0 and 2.0, and then cofounded the company that took down the biggest browser of the time controlled by the monopolistic tech company of its day.
Who better to take down the biggest browser of today and create the protocol to move the web from 2.0 to 3.0?
—a guy betting on Brave
15% of Google's revenue is still a quite large business. Having online advertising badly weaken isn't enough to kill the firm, unless they sell the profitable parts to try to bail out the unprofitable core business.
The assumption that Google will collapse is probably still true, but only because most companies don't last long term. The bigger firms often take quite a while to fade though.
The Federal Reserve banks of the world keep printing fiat money out of thin air and injecting it into government bonds which governments then spend on enormous consulting contracts and other useless government services offered by these corporations. This 'free money' essentially flowing directly from the Fed to governments to corporations allows corporations to increase their advertising budgets beyond any reasonable economic measure.
Small companies start dying like flies; in this environment which is adverse to small companies (where exposure to customers is prohibitively expensive and where big government contracts are out of reach), big corporations will discover that they can significantly cut back on the quality of their products and use a portion of the savings to further increase their exposure and rankings on Google. This creates a vicious cycle where products keep getting worse, but corporations keep getting stronger and customer acquisition costs keep going up.
Eventually, all small companies are dead. Everyone in the world is employed by a corporation. Governments start introducing laws to allow corporations to fire employees who vote for political candidates which the corporation does not approve. Corporations share data with each other so getting fired from a corporation means instant homelessness for the individual; they will never find a job again. Family members will receive a warning from their own jobs if a relative is fired.
Corporations then move to have the minimum wage abolished. Corporations then start paying employees with accomodation and food instead of money; they make the case that doing so makes the system more efficient overall and that this is for the good of everyone.
“now” sort of implies there was a time when Chromium existed but was maintained by someone else.
My (and please feel free to take a pop at me) riposte is that Google is the single large Internet company that keeps encroaching into my privacy/life - but gives me enough carrot with each stick for me to forgive them. Yes, I'm being data-raped, but they're actually pretty open with it and provide me some use from this data. e.g. Years ago I was shocked at seeing that I was being tracked on the maps timeline. But, it meant I could identify that great restaurant I was trying to remember.
I had the option to turn off the tracking.. but well it's really useful. Then you see your last holiday came with free-tracking and your free-pixel photos inserted into a lovely timeline.. grinds teeth at the intrusion, but loves the nostalgic montage
They also have been successful in opening my wallet - no more youtube adverts for me (and yes, you can block them in the browser, but then that doesn't pay the creator). Also paid for Drive - originally that, drop-box or Onedrive flips coin - but best client, API for my NAS, could add backup for my Mum's PC.. It was better so I bit, but kept finding more useful stuff being added.
As a counterargument - "Facebook". I used to think it was magic, but every interaction annoys me. "Why don't you connect to these people???! - Because I've no idea who any of them are.
Ebay - Doesn't seem to offer me anything more, except more shite each time I try to use it. Expensive AliExpress at best.
Amazon - actually great for shopping, nice integration of third party stuff. Easily winner in cloud hosting - and great example of horizontal gubbins.
MS - Under Satya actually interesting once more - and as I was convinced they were going insane, proof that I've no idea what I'm talking about.
Please don't dilute the meaning of words like this. As your post acknowledges the use of your data is entirely consensual and sprinkling rape in their is just for shock value only bros could consider ok
> Please don't dilute the meaning of words like this.
It's a bad term, but telling people how to speak provoke's backlash and resentment. It's more effective to explain the effect phrases like this have on people (as you did) and let them make their own decision then telling them to not say it.
And don't you even try arguing that your problem isn't directly with me, but your concern is that others reading my post might get the wrong end of it.
No, I think it's an inappropriate superfluous shock-value word in this context.
> don't you even try arguing that your problem isn't directly with me
I wasn't going to!
Do you feel equally outraged to condemn "murder" if anybody uses the verb "kill"?
Maybe Google won’t collapse outright, but they are facing challenges on a lot of fronts. Everything from employees unionising, antitrust legislation both at home and abroad, massive loss-leaders like YouTube, and advertising market challenges.
Worst of all is probably the reputational damage. They used to be the darling of technologists everywhere, but countless privacy- and monopolist scandals have taken their toll. There’s a growing anti-Google sentiment, and once lost, reputation is hard to recover.
It does seem dated, but the author has continued to edit it since it was originally written. He's got stuff from 2018 and 2019 in there.
> massive loss-leaders like YouTube
Citation needed.
Combine that with a massive rise in staffing costs from all the new "Trust and Safety" people they’ve added.
Of course, Alphabet are keeping the actual figures under wraps, but I’d consider it highly unlikely that it’s looking good.
Playing ads on the internet at scale (where your control you content costs) is profitable else no other companies would not be doing it.
Think of companies like tubi breaking into profitability in isolation without anywhere near the scale that YouTube operates at. https://www.businessinsider.com/tubi-tv-profitability-avod-o...
https://comicsalliance.com/scott-adams-plannedchaos-sockpupp...
"And he's a certified genius. Just sayin'." -Scott Adam's Sock Puppet plannedchaos, on Scott Adams.
Women are "treated differently by society for exactly the same reason that children and the mentally handicapped are treated differently. It's just easier this way for everyone." -Scott Adams