To Google or Not to Google?

By: Katharina Pistor (Project Syndicate)

When faced with a choice between truth and power, Shakespeare’s Hamlet famously asked, “To be or not to be?” The pursuit of an answer forces both heroes and villains to confront death or despair.

In a similar vein, the struggle over the infrastructure powering internet searches is rife with intrigue and power plays. In this modern drama, the villain is Google—more than just a search engine, company, or brand, it’s also a verb. As a witness in the recent antitrust trial observed, “To search is to Google.”

On August 5, a federal judge delivered a verdict of “liable,” finding Google guilty of unlawful monopolistic practices in two key markets, including general search services. While the specific remedies are yet to be determined, experts are already speculating that this ruling could reshape the future of online search.

The finding that Google dominates the search market was no surprise. Most users begin their search for information or products by typing into Google’s general search engine. Whether on a computer, phone, or tablet, they are “googling.” However, many don’t realize that they’re also googling when using Apple’s Safari or Mozilla’s Firefox browsers, which have set Google as their default search engine—albeit with some added privacy features…

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