Google’s motto of Do the Right Thing (changed from Don’t
Be Evil) suggests that the firm has consumer welfare at the forefront of
its business conduct and plays fairly in the marketplace. That should include full compliance with (not
skirting around) antitrust laws. Yet, in
2017, 2018 and 2019, the European Commission (EC) won 3 antitrust cases against
Google. The EC found that Google used
its market dominance by favoring its own search engine in comparative shopping results,
its own apps on its Android operating system, and its own advertising on its
advertising intermediation platform. In
all of these markets, Google’s actions disadvantage its competitors and harmed
competition.
Ironically, Google has similar dominant positions in these
platform markets in the U.S. Yet, no significant
antitrust actions have been taken against the firm (or the other BIG TECH companies,
like Amazon and Facebook). There are
some recent rumblings that could change as the DOJ and FTC have started
some investigations (see NY Times article). Maybe, just maybe, these
developments and the threat of BIG TECH breakups being pushed by presidential
candidate, Senator Elizabeth Warren, may discipline the firms to “Do the Right
Thing” on their own.
