In March 2007, Google’s then senior executive in charge of acquisitions, David Drummond, emailed the company’s board of directors a case for buying DoubleClick. It was an obscure software developer that helped websites sell ads. But it had about 60 percent market share and could accelerate Google’s growth while keeping …
Read More »Google's Rise Was Inevitable. So Was Its Antitrust Ruling
Larry Page and Sergey Brin never liked hanging with reporters. “Larry can be a very sensitive and good person, but he has major trust issues and few social graces,” a former Google PR person once told me. “Sergey has social graces but doesn’t trust people who he thinks don’t approach …
Read More »Good Luck Selling Your AI Startup
There is no wilder time than the present to build a company around artificial intelligence. The server bills are astronomical, for one. Also, the market for talent is red hot, and you’ll end up paying through the nose for good people. Even if you do get funding, staff up, get …
Read More »A US Judge Ruled That Google Is an Illegal Monopolist. Here's What Might Come Next
Unbox a new phone in the US and it's almost certain to have Google as the default way to search the web. Federal judge Amit Mehta on Monday ruled in favor of the US Department of Justice that the contracts Google uses to secure that position violate fair competition laws. …
Read More »Google Search Is an Illegal Monopoly, US Judge Rules
Google is now 0 for 2 in antitrust trials. United States district judge Amit Mehta ruled on Monday that Google has unlawfully maintained its dominance in search by using anticompetitive deals to keep rivals from gaining traction. And without fear of pressure from competitors, Google has been able to charge …
Read More »Sellers Call Amazon’s Buy Box ‘Abusive.’ Now They’re Suing
In 2015, merchants selling their wares on Amazon began to notice that whenever one of their products began to fly off the virtual shelves, the ecommerce powerhouse itself would seem to quickly come out with its own, cheaper version. Unable to compete on price, the retailers’ own sales would begin …
Read More »Judge Hints at Plans to Rein In Google’s Illegal Play Store Monopoly
A jury in December found that Google broke US antitrust laws through deals and billing rules that gave an unfair boost to its Google Play app store. On Thursday, a judge began laying out how Google could be forced to change its business as a penalty. The remedies under consideration …
Read More »US Sues to Break Up Ticketmaster and Live Nation, Alleging Monopoly Abuse
The US Department of Justice has sued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, for abusing their alleged monopoly in the ticketing market to trample competitors. Filed on Thursday in the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit focuses on Ticketmaster’s long-term exclusivity contracts with many of the largest …
Read More »Would You Still Use Google if It Didn't Pay Apple $20 Billion to Get on Your iPhone?
Microsoft has poured over $100 billion into developing its Bing search engine over the past two decades but has little market share to show for it. About nine out of every 10 web searches in the US are made through Google, with Bing splitting the remaining queries with a long …
Read More »What the Apple Antitrust Suit Means for the Future of Messaging
Apple has gotten used to being a favorite target of rivals and government agencies. The company has been repeatedly scrutinized by regulators around the world, and other tech companies have accused the company of anticompetitive practices. Apple’s most recent legal challenge is a doozy: an antitrust lawsuit filed by the …
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