Google’s story over the last two decades has been a tale as old as time: enshittification for growth. The once-beloved startup—with its unofficial “Don’t Be Evil” motto—has instead become a major Internet monopolist, as a federal judge ruled on Monday, dominating the market for online search. Google is also well-known for its data-harvesting practices, for constantly killing off products, and for facilitating the rise of brain-cell-destroying YouTubers who make me Fear for Today’s Youth. (Maybe that last one is just me?)
Google’s rapid rise from “scrappy search engine with doodles” to “dystopic mega-corporation” has been remarkable in many ways, especially when you consider just how much goodwill the company squandered so quickly. Along the way, though, Google has achieved one unexpected result: In a divided America, it offers just about everyone something to hate.
Here are just a few of the players hating Google today.
Google hasn’t just monopolised the ad industry, but is holding the internet itself in its clutches.
They own and control one of the biggest operating systems on the market, giving them control over peoples devices. They own and control the biggest browser engine on the market, giving them control over the internet standards; they can implement whatever the heck they want and essentially force it as a web standard. They own and control the biggest search engine on the market, giving them control over what information people can see and access.
For a lot of people, Google controls practically the entire internet access chain, and that should terrify anyone who cares about a free and open internet.
We’re way past that… right? They’ve already kinda destroyed the open web and are squeezing it for money.
Oh, but it can still get worse!