Google's Monopoly | Russ Harvey Consulting/title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"> <meta name="author" content="Russ Harvey | russharvey.bc.ca">   <link rel="stylesheet" href="../rhc-main.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../files/responsive-nav.css"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="../graphics/favicon.ico">  </head> <body> <div id="top" class="container"> <div class="row row-padding header"> <a href="../index.html"><img src="../graphics/logo.jpg" alt="Russ Harvey Consulting - Computer and Internet Services"></a> </div> <div id="nav" class="row"> <ul> <li><a href="../about.html">About</a></li> <li><a href="../services.html">Services</a></li> <li><a href="../businesshours.html" title="Site Home">Hours/Rates</a></li> <li><a href="../resources/index.html">Resources</a></li> <li><a href="../russ/index.html">Personal</a></li> <li><a href="../nav/contact.html">Contact</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="row row-padding content"> <div class="main">  <ul class="breadcrumb"> <li><a href="../index.html">Home</a> »</li> <li><a href="index.html">Self-Help Resources</a> »</li> <li>Google's Monopoly</li> </ul>  <h1>Google's Monopoly</h1> <p class="center"><a href="#monopolies">Multiple Monopolies</a> | <a href="#marketing">A Marketing Company</a> | <a href="#never-forgets">Google Never Forgets</a><br> <a href="#alternatives">Safer Alternatives</a></p> <div class="figure"> <img src="../graphics/pexels-brett-jordan-5417844.jpg" alt="The Google app's icon on a smartphone." title="Credit: Brett Jordan on pexels.com."> </div> <h2 id="monopolies">Multiple Monopolies</h2> <p>Many think of Google as a search engine but it is the <a href="#marketing">world's largest marketing company</a>.</p> <p>Google has monopolies in many areas, which makes them more of a threat:</p>  <blockquote>Google controls about 62% of mobile browsers, 69% of desktop browsers, and the operating systems on 71% of mobile devices in the world. <p class="break"> </p> 92% of internet searches go through Google and 73% of American adults use YouTube. <p class="break"> </p> Google runs code on approximately 85% of sites on the Web and inside as many as 94% of apps in the Play store. <p class="break"> </p> It collects data about users' every click, tap, query, and movement from all of those sources and more.<br> — <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/google-says-it-doesnt-sell-your-data-heres-how-company-shares-monetizes-and" rel="external" title="external link">EFF</a></blockquote> <h3>Dominates Mobile Search</h3> <p>Google accounts for <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-duckduckgo-makes-money-selling-search-not-privacy/" rel="external" title="external link">95% of mobile searches</a>:</p> <p class="center"><img src="../graphics/statcounter-search-engines-mobile-market-share.jpg" alt="StatCounter mobile search ranking over last 10 years." title="StatCounter mobile search ranking over last 10 years."><br> StatCounter data for mobile search engine market share.</p> <h3>Largest Video Platform</h3> <blockquote>Google is not only the biggest search engine in the world, but along with Youtube (the second biggest search engine in the world) it also has the largest video platform, with Chrome the biggest browser, with Gmail the most widely used e-mail provider, and with Android the biggest operating system for mobile devices. <p class="break"> </p> It collects data about users' every click, tap, query, and movement from all of those sources and more.<br> — <a href="https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/mathias-doepfner-s-open-letter-to-eric-schmidt-12900860.html" rel="external" title="external link">Von Mathias Döpfner</a></blockquote> <p class="smcenter"><a href="#top">Return to top</a></p> <h2 id="marketing">Google is a Marketing Company</h2> <p>Advertising has moved online and is currently controlled almost exclusively by Google.</p> <p>The only other significant players are Facebook and Amazon, leaving an insignificant slice for everybody else.</p> <h3>Threatens the Digital Economy</h3> <p>Google has become so powerful that it now threatens the digital economy.</p> <p>Mathias Döpfners <a href="https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/mathias-doepfner-s-open-letter-to-eric-schmidt-12900860.html" rel="external" title="external link">published an open letter to Eric Schmidt</a> regarding his company's total dependence on Google:</p> <blockquote>We know of no alternative which could offer even partially comparable technological prerequisites for the automated marketing of advertising. And we cannot afford to give up this source of revenue because we desperately need the money for technological investments in the future. Which is why other publishers are increasingly doing the same. <p class="break"> </p> We also know of no alternative search engine which could maintain or increase our online reach. A large proportion of high quality journalistic media receives its traffic primarily via Google. <p class="break"> </p> In other areas, especially of a non-journalistic nature, customers find their way to suppliers almost exclusively though Google. This means, in plain language, that we — and many others — are dependent on Google. <p class="break"> </p> At the moment Google has a 91.2 percent search-engine market share in Germany. <p class="break"> </p> In this case, the statement “if you don't like Google, you can remove yourself from their listings and go elsewhere” is about as realistic as recommending to an opponent of nuclear power that he just stop using electricity. He simply cannot do this in real life — unless he wants to join the Amish.<br> — <a href="https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/mathias-doepfner-s-open-letter-to-eric-schmidt-12900860.html" rel="external" title="external link">Mathias Döpfners</a></blockquote> <h4>Defining “Truth”</h4> <p>When a company dominates a market, what they tell you tends to become “the truth” even if their opinion isn't shared by everyone.</p> <blockquote>[I]f one company is 90% of the searches in our country, they kind of represent truth to our country.<br> — <a href="https://irlpodcast.org/season5/episode6/" rel="external" title="external link">IRL</a></blockquote> <p>If we trust only one company to tell us what is true and what isn't, they may give us what they <em>think</em> we want, creating the current trends for <a href="verify.html#hoax">fake news</a>.</p> <blockquote>Over time, the way that the corporation returns information has shifted ever so slightly. These incremental changes go largely unnoticed by the millions of users who rely on the search engine daily, but it has fundamentally changed the information seeking processes—and not necessarily for the better.<br> — <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/google-search-quietly-damaging-democracy/" rel="external" title="external link"><cite>Wired</cite></a></blockquote> <p class="smcenter"><a href="#top">Return to top</a></p> <h2 id="never-forgets">Google Never Forgets</h2> <p>Google makes their money by exploiting information you provide.</p> <blockquote>[W]hen you search on Google, they keep your search history forever. That means they know every search you've ever done on Google. That alone is pretty scary, but it's just the shallow end of the very deep pool of data that they try to collect on people.<br> — <a href="https://spreadprivacy.com/what-does-google-know-about-me/" rel="external" title="external link">DuckDuckGo</a></blockquote> <blockquote>Is Google too big and powerful, and do you need to ditch Chrome for good? Privacy experts say yes. <p class="break"> </p> Chrome is tightly integrated with Google's data gathering infrastructure, including services such as Google search and Gmail — and its market dominance gives it the power to help set new standards across the web. <p class="break"> </p> Chrome is one of Google's most powerful data-gathering tools.<br> — <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-chrome-browser-data" rel="external" title="external link">Wired</a></blockquote> <p>Google <em>NEVER</em> forgets.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://spreadprivacy.com/what-does-google-know-about-me/" rel="external" title="external link">What Does Google Know About Me?</a></li> </ul> <p class="clearimg"> </p> </div> <div class="aside"> <h2 id="alternatives">Safer Alternatives</h2> <p>There are alternatives to using Google's products.</p> <h3>Alternative Search Engines</h3> <p><a href="https://startpage.com/" rel="external" title="external link">Startpage</a> & <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/" rel="external" title="external link">DuckDuckGo</a> preserve your privacy.</p> <h4>StartPage</h4> <p>StartPage searches are passed onto Google <a href="https://www.startpage.com/en/privacy-policy/" rel="external" title="external link"><em>without</em> your IP address and other private information</a>. You still need to take care in how you word your search terms.</p> <blockquote>We created StartPage to help you search and browse the internet privately. Not because you have something to hide, but because you have a lot to protect!</blockquote> <p>Because StartPage is located in the UK, you may need to specify your location when searching for local stores, restaurants, etc.</p> <h4>DuckDuckGo</h4> <p>DuckDuckGo earns its money for keyword searches only. It doesn't track you or sell your search history.</p> <blockquote>Our privacy policy is simple: we don't collect or share any of your personal information.</blockquote> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/google-gmail-delete-account/" rel="external" title="external link">How to safely delete your Google or Gmail account for good</a>.</li> </ul> <h2 id="more">Related Resources</h2> <p>Related resources on this site:</p> <ul> <li><a href="search.html">Search engines & databases</a></li> <li><a href="verify.html">Verifying information</a></li> <li><a href="privacy.html">Your privacy at risk</a></li> <li><a href="restoreprivacy.html">Restoring your privacy</a></li> </ul> <p>or check the <a href="index.html">resources index</a>.</p> <p class="center"><a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/russharvey" rel="external"><img src="https://cdn.buymeacoffee.com/buttons/v2/default-blue.png" alt="Buy Me A Coffee" style="height: 60px !important;width: 217px !important;" ></a></p> <p class="clearimg"> </p> </div> </div> <p class="smcenter"><a href="#top">Return to top</a><br> RussHarvey.bc.ca/resources/google.html<br> Updated: November 18, 2022</p> <div class="row footer">  <script>now = new Date</script> <a href="../nav/copyright.html">Copyright © 1996–<script>document.write(now.getFullYear())</script></a> | <a href="../nav/privacy.html">Privacy</a> | <a href="../nav/sitenav.html">Navigation</a> | <a href="../design.html">RHC Design</a>  </div> </div> <script src="../files/external.js"></script> <script src="../files/responsive-nav.js"></script> <script> var navigation = responsiveNav("#nav"); </script> </body> </html>