Google is so big that it’s about to pass “Go” without ever needing to collect $200. While you were starting your business, raising your children or climbing the corporate ladder over the past five years, Google was busy buying up everything on the game board. Yes, they’ve become an economic Goliath of unprecedented proportions. And the word that we’re all just too tired to want to hear is “Monopoly.”
“Monopoly” brings to mind the robber barons of the late 19th and early 20th century. It brings to mind the phrase “government intervention.” It brings to mind the break-up of AT & T. And, frankly, we hope it all just goes away.
Because after all – can we trust government to figure out who qualifies as a monopoly these days? When corporate behemoths straddle the globe in today’s “flat world” – companies like Google seem more powerful than the United Nations (hey, my neighbor kid’s lemonade stand seems more powerful than the United Nations, but that’s another story).
Even Google’s competitor, Microsoft, has been so successful that the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation now has more money in its budget than most countries.
The bottom line is, however, if you do a search of the Internet you are overwhelmingly likely to use Google. It doesn’t really matter that research experts mostly agree that Ask.com gives you better results. It doesn’t really matter that none of the major search engines (Google and Ask and Live and Yahoo) can even get to the vast majority of online information (look up “Invisible Web” if you don’t believe me).
The fact is that 2 of every 3 people looking for stuff online are using Google. This means that advertisers are voting to spend their money where folks are searching. So, something like 3 of every 4 online advertising dollars goes to Google. Google’s share is huge and has been growing unabated now for four or five years.
This concentration of economic power in the hands of a couple of recent Stanford students raises some concerns. There is, as Red Herring (and every other news organization in the world) has reported (June 26th), “widespread media concern about Google’s growing power.” EWeek’s Evan Schuman wrote June 29th that, “there are few parallels to Google’s success in the history of American commerce.”
So, now it’s time for a quiz, ladies and gentlemen. What was the last big American company to be hauled into court on charges of owning both Park Place and Boardwalk? Yes, you are right, it was Microsoft. And, since those murky court decisions (were there decisions?!) how has Microsoft performed? Its stock is down 3%.
Homework for you – go to BigCharts.com and click on the Advanced Chart tab. Then put in Microsoft’s stock symbol (MSFT) choose “5 Years” for “Time” – and then click on the “Compare To” button and add both Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL). You’ll see that Mr. Microsoft Monopoly Man is dead on the table. Here’s the view for the past 3 years from BigCharts.com:
So, should the courts go after Google? Believe it or not, the latest big headline monopoly case is not against Google. It’s against Microsoft! And Google is bringing it! Yes, folks, the world is a strange place.
Government no longer needs to worry about bringing concentration of wealth suits – because these companies are all keeping each other on their toes by suing each other.
My money is on Google’s competitors. Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal just wrote a long column (Ask.com Takes Lead In Designing Display Of Search Results) praising Ask.com – and comparing it favorably to Google. Microsoft has just purchased a couple of companies – Medstory and MotionBridge – to compete with Google’s search dominance. And, not to be outdone, Yahoo fired its chief executive a few weeks ago and seems to be trying to get back in the game.
Yes, my money’s on the little guys – Microsoft, Yahoo and Barry Diller (owner of Ask.com). They’re likely to bring down the leader. And, they might just end up doing the work that government doesn’t really need to do. Google may have the lead right now – but give it a few years and they may be flat lining just like Microsoft.
Sorry, I Can’t remember whose turn is it? Did you just roll doubles?
