Would
Dismantling Google be Going too Far? (Le Monde,
France)
"With a 90
percent share of Internet searches within the European Union, Google is in a
situation of non-competition. … Google's de facto quasi-monopoly over online
searches within the European Union allows Google to promote its own services -
YouTube, Google Maps, etc. - and thus capitalize on its dominant position.
Therein lays the threat to competition. … Even … Google executives themselves don't
conceal that the size of the firm is beginning to be a problem."
No one can accuse Google, in this case, of failing to remain
neutral as a search engine. If you type the question "Should Google be broken up?" into Google, you will get no less than
374,000 responses covering almost the entire spectrum of possible opinion from fiercest
Googlephobes to fans of the Mountain View
(California) firm. This is nice, fair play, all that one could wish for, but it
doesn't resolve the problems posed by the search engine. And problems there are.
On November 27, members of the European Parliament were
right to be alarmed, once more, about the risk of concentration in the digital
market. In a purely hortatory text, approved overwhelmingly, they targeted
Google without naming it. With a 90 percent share of Internet searches within
the European Union, Google is in a situation of non-competition. It is not
necessarily its fault that it has such a boulevard in Europe: its market share
in the United States is lower, at around 70 percent.
However, as noted by the parliamentarians, this de facto
quasi-monopoly over online searches within the European Union allows Google to
promote its own services - YouTube, Google Maps, etc. - and thus capitalize on
its dominant position. Therein lays the threat to competition. That is how it
is understood by the group of publishers, price trackers and European tour
operators, as well as by the Microsoft America, which have launched proceedings
against Google with the European authorities.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
Protection of private
data
The European Commission's investigation is advancing at a
snail's pace and is already four years old. It has produced a few proposals
deemed unsatisfactory by the complainants: notably, having Google make clear in
its search engine results which are its own services. Should we dismantle the
company, as some advocate? Pending the results of the investigation, we will take
care not to hastily resort to the "atomic bomb" - even if Google
executives themselves don't conceal that the size of the firm is beginning to
be a problem.
However, we must be more radical when it comes to the second
major issue posed by Google. It affects our freedoms and the protection of
personal data collected by the firm. As much as we suspect among Europeans an
aftertaste of jealousy in the battles fought in Brussels against the American Net
giants - why don't we have firms of this quality! - in
regard to our freedoms, we must be uncompromising.
Yet this week, the competent European bodies denounced the
non-compliance or incomplete compliance by Google with the "digital right
to be forgotten," which is the norm in Europe as
decreed by the European Court of Justice. This allows Europeans to demand the removal
of search results related to them. Google should strictly interpret the law,
according to the group of bodies advocating protection of European data freedom.
This battle is most important as it touches on the culture, identity
and values of Europe. This must be given priority because the threat is real.
And Google penalized if necessary.