Is Google Just Another Search Firm?
Bill Gates often argued that Microsoft wasn't a monopoly, or at least an illegal monopoly. He said all this with a straight face as he sat on top with an 80 percent market share for Windows, Office and IE.
Eric Schmidt took a few cues from Gates and recently argued that Google doesn't dominate search, claiming that "Google has none of the characteristics that I associate with market power." He made this claim in a letter, ostensibly under oath, to U.S. Senators investing anti-trust allegations.
Schmidt's argument, in essence, is that nearly all major Internet companies, such as Facebook, somehow compete with Google's search business. Does this mean a merry-go-round competes with a Ford Escort just because they can both cruise around in circles?
Is Google a monopoly? Is Microsoft still a monopoly? Who else is a monopoly? You tell me at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 11/14/2011 at 1:18 PM