When Google Met Facebook

Good read on the Google vs Facebook/Twitter fiasco

parislemon:

Day 67 of the Google Search+ (Antitrust+) debacle. Today brings a few new entrants, notably Harvard professor and security expert Ben Edelman who argues (yet again) that Google is unfairly pumping their own products. Also joining the discussion is my CrunchFund partner Michael Arrington. 

Michael and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on things (see: Android vs. iPhone — though note, for the record, that we’re now both happy iPhone users). But here I mainly agree with his premise that Google shoving Google+ into Search isn’t insane or evil, it was inevitable. Further, he cites Microsoft’s IE antitrust case as precedent for why these arguments now won’t really matter in the long run.

I agree. Google is going to face legal scrutiny over their actions, likely sooner rather than later. But at best, this will drag on for years and end with Google getting a slap on the wrist (though in Europe it may be more like a punch in the stomach). The end will still justify the means — Google will be better positioned to compete with Facebook as a result of their actions.

But that doesn’t make them right.

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