Who wants a Sharp Probing?

[ryan.leslie]

SNNNAAPP... The awkward silence is broken by the unmistakable sound of that chalky white rubber glove as it rapidly accelerates from the elbow and violently comes to rest at the wrist of the physician behind you. Fear and loathing wash over as you mentally prepare yourself for the inevitable, but suddenly all you can think about is how your hand disappeared in the gargantuan palm of the bloated behemoth in the white coat during that customary handshake a moment ago. You close your eyes to a squint with a long exhalation as the blood leaves your knuckles...Your name is Google, and you are about to be probed by Dr. FTC.

Every man over 30 reading this post knows the unpleasantness of certain checkups...intimately. The truth is that these checkups are much less damaging than the diseases that they uncover. Obviously I'm poking a little fun here and I hope this wasn't too course for DealerRefresh, but I think the imagery is fitting. Google has already changed some practices as a result of the uncomfortableness of the impending probe. The question remains, is Google being unfairly probed for it's business practices due to it's size alone or do you believe that Google's practices are a cancer to the free flow of data and e-commerce?

Here is yesterday's article, FTC Sharpens Google Probe, from the Wall Street Journal outlining the investigation and the inspiration for the title of this post:

FTC Focuses Google Probe on Android, Web Search - WSJ.com

Here is a "what if" that might need some consideration:

What if today it's review content from Yelp and Tripadvisor, but tomorrow it's physical inventory scraped from every dealer's site for pricing transparency as a convenience service to Google users? Certainly they could aggregate that data too, right? Using the same principles of aggregation for the consumer's "benefit", a Google Auto could be far less beneficial for the dealer community.

 

[kevinfrye]

Thanks for sharing this Ryan, great read which gives some valuable insight into these recent Google changes. I have to admit that I am a bit stumped how Google, or any other search engine would optimally perform if they have major restrictions on what data they can pull and present in a search result. Isn't that the point of a search engine???

 

[ryan.leslie]

I think the sticky point is that they are actively moving up their own properties on the SERP's. Take Places for example. Why do they show right under the dealers URL? The place page is currently just a review site, right? All of the additional content supplied by businesses has been removed, so on what merits or by what algorithm do the places pages get top billing? TripAdvisor and Yelp were basically saying that Google was monetizing the Place Pages with their content by aggregating and providing snippets AND going around their own sort algorithms by showing their page above all others. The result: Google takes the ad revenue through adwords in the places pages that used to be enjoyed by Yelp and TripAdvisor and Google doesn't own the content...

But it is way bigger than just reviews and Places pages if they are looking into Android OS and Mobile too. To me this is way more interesting, not to mention high stakes, than the MS antitrust probes around packaging software.

Fundamentally it's the same argument that is going on in the recording and film industry, now that content is accessible so readily how do you control who monetizes and profits from the brokerage of the content?

 

[Eley Duke]

Great info, thanks Ryan for sharing! Will be interesting to see how everything shakes out with Google. You have to wonder do they deserve these probes, or are they being singled out because of their rapid success. We'll see.

 

[ryan.leslie]

Hmm... $12.5 Billion buys Motorola mobility and over 17,000 patents.

I think Google's response to the FTC investigation might be just like Bonnie Raitt's response to rumors... They are going to "give them something to talk about."

Google Buys Motorola Mobility For $12.5B, Says “Android Will Stay Open†| TechCrunch

Interesting or Scary? If Google's strategy for self-promotion of their web properties holds I wouldn't want to be a smartphone manufacturer running Android this morning.

 

[tomwhitejr]

Actually several of Google's new competitors - notably Samsung, had positive things to say about the acquisition. It is EVERYONE against APPLE and the trench lines are being dug.

Google buying Motorola: Nokia, Samsung, and other industry players react | This is my next...

 

[ryan.leslie]

Actually several of Google's new competitors - notably Samsung, had positive things to say about the acquisition.

Hey Tom,

This comment from that article you cited really says it best:

Ya think somebody would say, “Those F'ing Googlers!!! We are SO OUT OF their BS Open Handset Alliance!!!†I mean, even if that was exactly their CEO's thought?

Here is a great snippet from an article on Business Insider:

How do HTC and Samsung, two of the leading Android-based smartphone makers, feel about the fact that their "partner" Google is now competing directly with them for hardware sales?
And we mean, how do they really feel, internally, not "what are they saying in public?" (The quotes Google has assembled from HTC, LG, et al, all appear to have been written by the same PR person--note the similarity in the language.)
The only reason Android (and Google) have any share of the mobile game, after all, is because hardware makers like HTC and Samsung adopted Google's software platform. And now Google is stabbing them in the back. (Ryan's comment: Not uncommon really for google, they have a strong history of not playing nice, research skyhook)
By now, it's probably too late for Samsung and HTC to switch to another platform, so they'll have to smile and make the best of it. But still... having your software "partner" suddenly fire a missile down your throat can't feel too good.
And if Google-owned Motorola starts to gain share in the hardware business, the feeling (and tension) will only get worse.

Read more of this great article here: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GOOGLE-MOTOROLA DEAL: It Could End Up Being A Disaster

The author makes some really interesting comments about the challenges of managing a non-core competency commodity manufacturer with low margins. He also notes that Google was a company of 29,000 yesterday and added 19,000 employees overnight.
​

 

[Chip Grueter]

How many people use a Motorola DVR at home? That is a whole new level of home integration and data gathering Google has its hands on now.

 

[Billfred]

How many people use a Motorola DVR at home? That is a whole new level of home integration and data gathering Google has its hands on now.

The (far-too-commonly-missed) hitch: back in January, Motorola split into two companies: Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility (Google bought the latter). Wikipedia doesn't mention that either is still in the business of set-top boxes.

No need for the tinfoil hats just yet.

 

[ryan.leslie]

Bringing this one back from the dead:

The test results are in and the news isn't good Mr. Google. Dr. FTC is bringing in a specialist! You need surgery!

AP News: FTC hires outside lawyer to steer Google probe

A good friend shared this with me this morning: "FTC goes to Defcon 4" in antitrust case against Google. Lawsuit looks inevitable and negotiations are likely. What ancillary products do you think Google will sacrifice in an attempt to protect their core business? After watching the hearing in Sept. there are a lot of things on the table.