| Akvod said: Can Google really be a monopoly? I don't really see any barriers to entry, and any usual stuff about monopolies setting prices=Marginal Cost and Dead Weight Loss... since it's all free XD The only thing I would fear is censorship, but right now Google is fighting China so... and again, not barriers to entry. |
Yes, Google really does have a monopolistic majority of the internet search market, and yes, there are enourmous barriers to entry. Running a search engine requires a tremendous capital investment (Apple's data center which is rumoured might be for such a search engine is a $1 billion investment), and extremely skilled technical labour. There's a reason why only companies like Microsoft and Apple can even think of challenging Google's position in this market.
The searches are free, the ads aren't. Like television and most other media, Google's real customers are the advertisers. Google's product is the eyeballs of people searching the internet.
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