The European Digital Single Market - More Bad News For Google?

[superclown2]

A draft of the proposals for the Digital Single Market has been released. Concerns are expressed about the power of search engines to dictate the success or failure of other businesses, forays by these search engines into businesses which they are able to dominate because of their power within the Internet, the role of paid advertising and privacy matters.
It would seem that the EU's current proposed actions against Google may be only the beginning of a much bigger struggle.
[im.ft-static.com ]

[Hinso]

Seems that Wednesday is the day that the European Commission officially presents its views on transparency, payment for links and adverts and the influence of 'certain platforms' on access to online markets. Should be fun.

[EditorialGuy]

Most of the proposal is about other things that have nothing to do with Google (or with search engines, for that matter).

[jmccormac]

Going to be fun. Maybe not for Google and its fans but for all the Mom and Pop businesses that the clueless Animal Farm twiddlers in Google wiped out, any EU victory might be seen as a worthy bit of vengeance. Google's FUDbuddies in the media and elsewhere will of course try to present Google in the best possible light and claim that the evil EU bureaucrats are victimising poor Google.

Regards...jmcc

[EditorialGuy]

It's worth noting that the proposal makes many of the same points that The Economist made in its editorial a few weeks ago that questioned the EC's jihad against Google. The proposal states:

"Europe has the capabilities to lead in the global digital economy but we are not making the most of them. Fragmentation and barriers that do not exist in the physical Single Market are holding the EU back. Bringing down these barriers within Europe could contribute an additional EUR 425 billion to European GDP."

Chasing foreign bogeymen may be good politics, but it isn't a panacea for the EU's internal problems--some of which are as prosaic as overpriced, inefficient cross-border parcel delivery and the anti-competitive "price differences or other geographical discrimination" practiced by European e-commerce vendors.

[Hinso]

Jihad against Google!

Wow, strong words. Poor little Google.

[aristotle]

Evidently some people don't like proposals that put the public good above Google's profits.

[jmccormac]

Terrible when a monopolist is not allowed to run everyone else out of business. Don't these EU bureaucrats know that Google has the best interests of its shareholders at heart. How will Larry, Curly and Moe afford new gold plated swimming pools? :)

Seriously though, if the EU does move against Google on some of these issues, could the US reopen some of the investigations?

Regards...jmcc

[EditorialGuy]

Evidently some people don't like proposals that put the public good above Google's profits.

Only a small part of the proposal has anything remotely to do with Google. The proposal is mostly about the EU's internal problems that need fixing.

[aristotle]

Only a small part of the proposal has anything remotely to do with Google. The proposal is mostly about the EU's internal problems that need fixing.

That's right -- the proposal is mostly about the public good. But evidently you perceived that what's good for the public could be bad for Google's profits and quickly jumped into the discussion to try to discredit the proposal.