Google Search – Upheaval Does Not Equal Abuse

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Panda Update photoEvery update to Google’s search algorithm – Penguin and Panda to name the latest two – is accompanied by major upheavals in the rankings of websites on the Google Search Engine Results Page.

Take the case of Mahalo for example: After the Panda update, the human-powered search directory found itself shunted off from the #1 position to the back pages of Google SERP, with the impact being so severe that the company briefly considered shutting down service.

The turbulence caused by these updates is often followed by vociferous accusations by all and sundry that Google acts in an opaque manner. To quote Vishal Mehta, the Founder CEO of leading Indian e-tailer Infibeam, “there is no transparency on what parameters push up or down certain (Google) search results”.

Some of these accusers even sue Google on the grounds that it abuses its monopoly status.

Meanwhile, the search behemoth marches on.

Probably because there’s lot more to this subject than meets the eye. Let’s take each one of these allegations and look at their merits.

Monopoly

Google owns 70% share of web search market in USA, 90% in Europe and 97% in India. Arguably that makes it a monopoly, at least outside USA.

But, is it a monopoly caused by lack of choice?

No. Google was not the first search engine when it launched in the late nineties. Google is still not the only search engine. It’s just that a majority of users – that includes you and me – happen to choose Google over other search engines although they have plenty of choice.

Therefore, Google’s alleged monopoly is created by its users. As we shall see later, very few monopolies have this trait.

Transparency

Google publishes copious release notes for each of its updates. Just type site:google.com panda update into your favorite search box – Google in my case – and you’ll get references to 1,140,000 pieces of content, all from Google, Inc. This shows that Google is quite transparent about communicating the impact of changes to its search algorithm.

On the other hand, will the Amazons, Flipkarts and the Infibeams of the world tell us how they arrive at their prices? Do online travel agencies tell you that they increase their prices on every repeat visit to their websites? (They do.)

Google’s critics might counter that by saying, it doesn’t matter if online shoppers don’t know the bases of the prices charged by different ecommerce websites and OTAs, they can always compare prices online and take an informed purchase decision.

Well, so can web search users. If they don’t like Google, they can use Bing, Yahoo!, DuckDuckGo, StartPage or half a dozen other search engines. 

Abuse

In most countries including India and USA, your local government decides your electricity provider. If you live in Pune, India, like me, you can buy electricity only from MSEB. PG&E is the only electric utility in in Mountain View in California, which is where Google is headquartered.

In other words, your energy utility is a monopoly created by government edict. Not by customer choice.

Do these utilities reward your loyalty by giving you a deep discount on your bill from time to time? Or do they abuse their monopoly status by hiking rates arbitrarily? I thought so too.

powerlines-sky-600-600xx600-914-0-0-200wWhile you can move your mortgage to a different bank that offers better terms, the associated prepayment penalty acts as a strong deterrent against switching.

In sharp contrast, no government or regulator or law forces you to use Google. You’re not penalized if you want to part company with Google and use another search engine. As the company says on its website, “Users aren’t locked in to using Google search… the cost of switching to a different search engine is zero”. Given these realities, the accusation of abuse is baseless.

While Google maybe a monopoly, and while updates to its search algorithm do cause upheavals in the online world, there’s no reason to believe that Google abuses its monopoly position.