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harold aptroot wrote: They're rules that someone has to go out of their way to enforce, organizing committees and so on
Okay, fair enough. So now that someone has "gone out of their way", I can expect to see the same rule applied to all search engines, correct?
Or is it more of a case (that I personally believe) that the EU targets only successful companies that it thinks it can get money out of?
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Brent Jenkins wrote: Or is it more of a case (that I personally believe) that the EU targets only successful US companies that it thinks it can get money out of?
FIFY
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Bergholt Stuttley Johnson wrote: Or is it more of a case (that I personally believe) that the EU targets only successful US and UK companies that it thinks it can get money out of?
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Then someone would have to go out of their way again, for each of the search engines.. unlikely.
Obviously they're only going to target successful companies, that also makes sense from the perspective of maximum impact for the effort. Or they're doing it for the money, I haven't really decided yet.
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Exactly where does it say they will not be prosecute?
start with one and they progress to the others, make sense to start with the biggest, and whilst the others may have a big global footprint their EU is very small, would not be surprised if Netscape is bigger
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Bergholt Stuttley Johnson wrote: Exactly where does it say they will not be prosecute?
I'm saying they won't prosecute. The EU only goes for the easy target. Yandex and Baidu will be left alone, I personally guarantee it
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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just exactly how many users use them within the EU? is it actually in double figures?
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Why does the number of users matter? The law either applies to all or it applies to nobody. If you're selectively applying a law, then it isn't a law, it's corruption.
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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so you start with the biggest offender not someone virtually no one in the EU has heard of
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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If the same banners don't appear across all search engines, then we'll know what the EU's intentions were, won't we?
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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you think that if the EU win against google they wont chase the others? they have precedent and have defeated the most powerful
and no we wont because their are search engines that have such a small footprint as to make them irrelevant, now these may have a huge following in OTHER countries the EU is only concerned with the EU
it looks like you feel that Google shouldn't be held to account because some irrelevant search engine is also non compliant despite them being the Biggest offender!
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Bing? Yahoo?
The EU saw easy cash (in a time when it really needs cash - it's screwed as much as it thinks it can get from the UK for this year), so needs to look for other "donors".
Bergholt Stuttley Johnson wrote: it looks like you feel that Google shouldn't be held to account because some irrelevant search engine is also non compliant despite them being the Biggest offender!
I'm no fan of Google personally, but I don't like unfairness (perhaps it's a British thing?). Google should not be the only company subjected to this "rule".
There's a lot of corruption in many EU member countries and I think this is a symptom of this culture coming through.
Make a law an apply it to all, not just to those you think are worth shaking down.
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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so you think that the EU should take on ALL the search engines AT ONCE? well that's not going to cost anything is it?
sense would say that if you cannot get them to agree without dragging them to court then you go after the biggest, this makes getting the others easier (if Google loses most will fall in line and any that don't will be extremely hard pressed to defend themselves in court)
if the EU loses then it just has the (big) bill for taking on Google and not 30+ other cases as well
and before you suggest taking on a small one first do you think the EU winning against a minnow would persuade Google to change (it never has in the past)
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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I don't think the EU should take on any search engine. If they want, they can introduce a law or industry regulation and enforce it across the board.
They do the same with everything else: banking, manufacturing, agriculture, etc. It's a shakedown, plain and simple. Nothing to do with laws or regulations.
I'll add that I think that the EU has bigger issues to deal with than silly banners on a single website. I'd prefer UK law to be making the decisions for us in the UK to be honest.
And end users won't benefit from yet another silly version of the "the internet uses cookies, do you accept?" type regulation that cost the industry millions for bugger all.
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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They are only flowing the US practice of one law for locals and one for those foreign bods
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Sure Thing!
Like Apple suing Samsung . . . and losing.
Ooops. We'll need another example.
BP destroying our coastline and paying spit-change in fines.
Ooops, again.
Well - I'll think of something.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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BP paid a damn site more than the US companies that actually split the damn oil
oh and I don't remember the US companies paying much for covering half of Africa in oil
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Unless your Google display results are vastly different than mine, the top returned values always have a small yellow box [AD] on the second line (in front of the url).
The item to the right say "Sponsored" right across the top.
Finally, however, even without these, Google's business model is no secret. If they get paid per click-through then they'll damn well do their best to put those links in view.
Does a bar have to warn you that the free salty food is to make you thirsty so you drink more?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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W∴ Balboos wrote: Does a bar have to warn you that the free salty food is to make you thirsty so you drink more?
Shhh.. you'll give them more great ideas. Personally I'd love us to leave the EU, but I don't think our version of democracy will allow it.
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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The idea that the EU is 'robbing' money from Google to give/lend to Greece is absurd. The EU/ECB have the resources to bail out Greece, what is lacking is the political will as they have the idea that any money given to Greece is just throwing good money after bad. (An idea that isn't entirely wrong.)
I see you brought up BP and how a European company destroyed American life/land/sea/assets and paid peanuts. Union Carbide screwed up Bhopal and killed thousands more than BP and got away paying even less. BP's case pales in comparison to Union Carbide's sins.
Cheers,
विक्रम
"We have already been through this, I am not going to repeat myself." - fat_boy, in a global warming thread
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Speaking of Bhopal and "Carbide's Sin", I hold the government of India 100% responsible for the tragedy.
What? Why?
Union Carbide was made to build the plant away from population centers - which it did. Then the squatters moved in to the area. Now poor people moving into near proximity of industry (and thus potential income) is not unique to India.
However - the government doing nothing to stop the populating of an area in the vicinity of the plant and its known potential dangers, is totally their responsibility. Union Carbide isn't the government and cannot relocate its citizens.
As for the EU having the resource to handle the Greek (&other) economic disasters - that's not a relevant response. They simply want someone else to pay. The Germans, it seems, are a bit tired of it. Who'd gonna' pony up the cash?
It sort of reminds me of all of these countries with their armies and egos wondering when the US will go help out some war-torn area or another. They have their own poeple, equipment, and money - let them go and do the deed. They'd rather, of course, have Uncle Sap do it - in case something goes wrong. Also, war is expensive. Much scapegoating because they're too damn cheap and lazy (or clever?) to get up off their abundant backsides to do the unpleasant little tasks, themselves.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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How does the EU distinguish between paid positioning and people gaming the search engine? (Google and Bing have gotten pretty good at detecting that.)
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Oh sure - Greece owes the EU hundreds of billions. Squeezing Google for €6 billion isn't going to make much of a difference in this case. To suggest it would is, well, crass. You sound like you've never been to Europe - you should visit, we don't all live in mud huts out here.
European governments do pull dumb tricks to get cash out of each other - like this one[^]. Pinching money from corporations like Google? No.
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Suggesting the EU wouldn't try to grab money from anyone they can isn't crass, it's historical. In particular, they love to target large US companies.
As for having been to Europe (and other far off lands) - I don't know your age, but it's rather likely I'd been to Europe before you. More than once.
SpoonLord wrote: Pinching money from corporations like Google? No. They certainly didn't pull back from pinching money from Microsoft because they included their own software (e.g., Media Player) with Windows. They fined them big bucks and made them make a version without it. Why? Allegedly because European customers were too laid back to bother getting an alternative audio engine (free or otherwise) because they were given one for free. Windows was the dominant browser - another reason to single them out - but FREE alternatives were and available. Who's fault, then, is the problem?
Same thing, according to another poster, is Google's problem: Europeans don't bother looking for an alternative so Google must be punished.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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I live in Switzerland, which - contrary to some US companies' belief (but that is a rant for another time) - is not part of the EU. Consider me neutral on that matter.
I've read many (not all) of the comments, and all I can get away from this is that none of you really understand what this is all about. I don't say I do, but at least I've tried, and from the little I know it's obvious none of the points made about the EU in this thread are valid, or at the very least founded on something tangible. Just to make one point: 6B$ wouldn't make or break Greece. 600B$ wouldn't either, it would buy them at most a few years time.
But back to topic.
The main issue with Google is not that they're trying to get paid, or maximizing their income. It's not even that they don't clearly state how the search results they present to the users are lopsided in favor of certain clients. The main issue is that Google Search is the de facto standard search engine in Europe, and as a result, uninformed users will turn to them rather than looking at and evaluating alternatives. This puts Google in a quasi-monopolist position where they can dictate how search results are presented to users in general.
This opposes the idea of an open market, where the user can pick a different product, because many users are not aware or technically competent enough to pick a better suited service.
That said, realistically, many users will never be able to conciously choose the right search engine for themselves, therefore the only feasible solution is for the market leader to offer an unbiased service as a default. They may offer 'improved' and biased services in any way they like, as long as they are not used as the default. They could even introduce a new virtual currency (g-points?) as micropayments for users that use the biased search engine rather than the unbiased default. Those payments could then be used in return for other services and and advanced features elsewhere. Just to make a suggestion. Other companies have introduced micro-payment currencies with great sccess, I wonder why Google hasn't tried this yet?
GOTOs are a bit like wire coat hangers: they tend to breed in the darkness, such that where there once were few, eventually there are many, and the program's architecture collapses beneath them. (Fran Poretto)
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