Why We Just Can’t Rely On Google…
By Anna Johnson on September 22nd, 2008What Google may giveth… it may also take away…
Many of us have learned that the hard way. As domainers, search engine optimizers, advertisers and publishers, we’ve seen revenues and profits rise… and plummet… as Google changes its mind about whether it ‘approves’ of our business model or marketing… or not.
Serves us right, eh? If we choose to play Google’s game, we must accept that Google can change the rules any time it chooses. That’s a right Google reserves legally – i.e. when we agree to Google’s terms of use – and as a practical matter, due to its sheer market power.
Or must we just accept it?
When does a company’s exercise of its rights go from simply being ‘unfair’… to constituting an abuse of market power or being ‘unconscionable’?
‘Unconscionable’ is a legal term that has slightly different meanings in different jurisdictions. In general, it loosely refers to contractual terms that are so unfair that no reasonable person would, under normal circumstances, accept them. They typically arise where a party to a contract has much greater bargaining power than the other party and uses this power to extract unreasonably one-sided and onerous rights from the other party.
Successfully proving the existence of excessive market power or unconscionable contracts is generally tough, whether in the United States, Europe, or here in Australia. But there are indications that businesses, large and small, are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with Google’s dominance over the Internet.
For example, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) recently wrote to the U.S. Justice Department to object to the Google-Yahoo search advertising agreement. And, at the other end of the spectrum, there’s the letter sent by the lawyers of Dan Savage, owner of Sourcetool.com, to voice concerns about Google ratcheting up his Adwords prices due to low Quality Scores.
Warranted or not, I bet those letters to the Justice Department are piling up. Whether it should – or is able – to address some of the concerns remains to be seen.
You know, I would much prefer to see the marketplace – rather than the government or the courts – sort out who wins and who doesn’t when it comes to market share, sales, profits, etc. I’m not convinced that Google is abusing its market dominance. But one thing IS true: none of us can afford to rely on Google for our livelihoods.
Source: Joe Nocera, “Stuck in Google’s Doghouse”, The New York Times, September 12, 2008, Anna Johnson, “ANA Objects To Yahoo-Google Ad Deal”, Kikabink News, September 15, 2008
