As Google went before Congress there was a strong suspicion amongst competitors that its new acquisitions altered the way business was being conducted. Google will continue to expand and touch new markets and the company will continue to face skepticism from competitors.
Google’s acquisitions include:
- ITA Software:
- Admob Mobile Ad Platform:
- DoubleClick Online Advertising site
- Youtube
- Android mobile operating system
Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, was able to deflect the majority of the criticism that was aimed his way, and he calmly explained how Google would be able to pursue acquiring more assets yet remain unbiased.
- Is it possible to be an unbiased search engine and own a vast portfolio of web based businesses?
Google has acquired dozens of internet businesses across various fields, and it has transformed them into a major conglomerate. Internet businesses that are competing with Google complain that Google is using its leverage with search results where it can capture billions of dollars in advertising revenue. They also claim that Google has biased its search results in favor of its own businesses.
Google owns approximately 65-70 percent of the internet search arena. People use the site frequently, and 90 percent of them click on the results posted on the first page—usually above the fold. If Google had been pushing their own businesses up in the search they would stand to profit greatly from such a move.
Eric Schmidt successfully defended the company as he constantly stressed Google was not attempting to limit competition. He explained that Google ranks results to supply users with the best results. Advertising revenue and political views have no bearing or influence on search results.
- Do Google’s search rankings hurt other companies’ chance of success?
Each year Google makes more than 500 adjustments to its search algorithms and the changes are designed to improve the quality of search results for consumers. There is an in depth process designed to scientifically assess how consumers will react to the potential algorithm changes.
When companies fall in the Google search rankings, Google sends them detailed information describing what took place and provides ways they can improve their rank. And the algorithms are not biased towards enterprise companies. They are designed for small businesses as well, which means everyone has a fair chance.
- Google limits the choice in the Android market?
The Android system is open-sourced which means any phone manufacturer or person with knowledge of the structure can develop software to run on that system for free. A huge budget or an IT degree is not required. So the system actually promotes competition because the field is wide open. Small companies can compete with the larger companies so users have more options to try multiple products before choosing which one is best.
Eric Schmidt and Google came out of the hearing looking strong and poised to continue building their empire. As they continue to acquire more companies and grow in size the talk of a monopoly will grow louder but it appears to just be good business.
