

Google Is Target of European Backlash on U.S. Tech Dominance - maclaren
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/technology/google-is-target-of-european-backlash-on-us-tech-dominance.html

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Mithaldu
> “We are afraid of Google,” wrote Mathias Döpfner, chief executive of Axel
> Springer

By quoting him the article has directly made itself extremely suspect, since
the publishing house Springer owns the biggest and worst fact- and politics-
mangling tabloid in germany, Bild.

~~~
CurtHagenlocher
I don't know anything about Bild, and only know Springer as the publisher of
expensive low-print-run sometimes-poorly-formatted academic books. But isn't
this like saying that the Wall Street Journal isn't credible because the same
company also publishes the New York Post?

~~~
Mithaldu
No, it's like saying the Wall Street Journal would be suspect if the same
company publishes FOX News, or the Daily Mail. Publications that openly lie,
distort and abuse; on a massive scale; to serve their own political slant.

Addendum: To clarify how terrible Bild is, consider this website:
[http://www.bildblog.de/](http://www.bildblog.de/) It is a blog dedicated to
pointing out factual mistakes in the Bild publication. They have been running
since 2004.

~~~
alex8022
I'm not sure if this is deliberate or not, but until 2013, the Wall Street
Journal and FOX News were owned by the same company..

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation)

~~~
Mithaldu
I was not aware of that, but it leads me to ask a question:

I have seen first-hand that the thinking of Bild extends to other companies
owned by Springer, companies that have nothing to do with what Bild does, like
the price comparison portal [http://idealo.de](http://idealo.de) I have seen
this in person when i attended job interviews for programming positions at
those companies. That is my reason to not give anything or anyone connected to
Bild, directly or indirectly, any iota of trust in their honesty.

So, what is your reason for giving WSJ any trust?

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plesner
"Google competitors say: google is bad"

~~~
pippy
It's ridiculous to label Google a monopoly. People have to go out of their way
to type in Googles URL, and anyone can type in something different. Yandex and
baidu are valid non-US competitors.

Quality is the reason why people go back to Google. Compare this to the
monopolistic practices of Mircosoft; who still viciously fend competitors from
installing their software on OEM devices, amongst other horrible business
practices. You could also label Apple or Oracle but in comparison they're not
that bad.

It boils down to the fact that dodgy tax breaks are good, unless you're not
getting a slice of the pie.

~~~
threeseed
Google is the default search engine in Safari, Chrome, Firefox on both mobile
and web. Nobody is going out of their way to look for or type Google.com.

And not sure why on earth you are bringing up Yandex or Baidu which are both
country specific engines with very strong ties to their respective
governments.

~~~
thrownaway2424
I rebut your naked assertion with anecdata. Once a retailer offered to look up
something on her computer for me. She opened up internet explorer, the default
browser on her operating system. It loaded Bing. Then she typed "Google" into
Bing. Then she clicked the first result. Then she typed her question into
Google.

~~~
dannyr
Saw this on High School Students too.

The default search engine was Yahoo. They search for "Google", click on the
link and search from there.

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bowlofpetunias
Yes, we hate them for their freedom.

Oh, wait, we're trying to protect our freedom. US tech companies are on a
rampage attempting to destroy civil rights, consumer rights and labor rights
in Europe. Often openly breaking laws that aren't outdated and in need of
"disruption", but very much explicitly exist to prevent what these companies
are trying to do.

This insanity has got to end at some point. Imagine if a foreign companies
started liquor stores across the US that sold alcohol to under 21 year olds,
flaunting US law, claiming to be innovative and disruptive, and accusing the
US of just trying to protect it's internal market.

We've been pretty fucking tolerant of this shit so far, acknowledging that
some things may be up for debate. Regulators have mostly limited themselves to
diplomatically urging companies to adjust their practices.

But it's getting ridiculous. Especially Uber has demonstrated that US
companies have absolutely no scruples anymore about launching businesses that
openly and deliberately break local laws. This isn't business, it's organized
crime.

~~~
jedmeyers
> Imagine if a foreign companies started liquor stores across the US that sold
> alcohol to under 21 year olds, flaunting US law, claiming to be innovative
> and disruptive, and accusing the US of just trying to protect it's internal
> market.

We have literally discussed this idea at work last week. Air France should
park their Airbuses in some airport and sell wine there to 18-year-olds during
their prom nights since the laws of France are in effect aboard a ship.

