Sure, but when Google have been starting out they didn’t have to compete with...Google (as it is today). While companies that would like to enter the market now have to. And Google has a massive competitive advantage: their data and their scale. Not saying that regulation will necessarily help, and it’s not Google’s fault that they’re so good, but it’s silly not to admit that it’s hard to enter the search market today.
Now DDG is interesting. Their results are noticeably worse (YMMV). But they are using privacy as the selling point. I wonder if you can possibly have results as good as Google’s, or be as big and profitable as Google, while maintaining user’s privacy. I guess we’ll find out.
You're broadening the context. I am not saying Google as company is something you can't compete with. Many companies do so successfully in various markets. I am talking about search in particular. Which is why you bringing Microsoft in is convenient for my point. How's Microsoft's attempt to compete with Google search doing? And that's one of the few companies that can challenge Google in terms of resources.
Yes, broadening the context is my whole point. 20 years ago it was the OS, 10 years ago it was search, today it's social networks, tomorrow? The monopolies from each era struggle in the next. Let Google solve & dominate search while innovation moves on to the next big thing.
The history is antitrust rulings are what prevents monopolies of the past from dominating the next era.
IBM was constrained by an antitrust ruling. Which gave Microsoft an opening. Microsoft itself was then subject to a similar action 20 years later. So it's been another 20 years since then, so the time is ripe to clip googles wings.
Now DDG is interesting. Their results are noticeably worse (YMMV). But they are using privacy as the selling point. I wonder if you can possibly have results as good as Google’s, or be as big and profitable as Google, while maintaining user’s privacy. I guess we’ll find out.