From Tokyo, Japan and New Plymouth, New Zealand – this is Down to Business English. With your hosts Skip Montreux and Samantha Vega.
Hello Samantha? How goes it?
It goes well Skip. You?
I can not complain. Well, I … I guess I could, but I won’t. You just got back from a business trip didn’t you?
I did. I had to make a trip a few hours away for a couple days to attend some professional development seminars.
Mm well, you’ve got to love that. Nothing like hitting the road and getting out of town for a few days. And how did everything go?
How did it go? Well, in three words, I’d say it was resourceful, fulfilling, but busy.
Sounds about right for a business trip. What was resourceful about it?
The seminar provided a refresher on working with youth and coordinating with small to medium sized businesses looking to hire them. I also re-connected with other colleagues in the industry.
Cool! And busy? Why busy?
Oh, you know how these trips can be. Back-to-back sessions all day, networking events in the evening. Hardly a moment to catch my breath!
Well all in all, it sounds like a positive experience for you.
It was. Professional growth is always a good thing.
In general, I would say that is a truism.
In general? What do you mean?
There can be situations where too much growth, or getting too big could cause a lot of trouble for a company.
I thought the primary goal of any business was to make money. The more you grow, the more money you make.
But there could come a point where you become so big that no one can compete against you.
Hmm . What would an example of that be?
One word — Google.
Ah, of course. Google has had their hands full lately fighting antitrust cases in the US courts.
They have. And that is the focus of our report today.
Good. It’s all quite complicated. Maybe you can clear things up for me.
I will certainly try. So, let’s do it. Let’s get D2B … Down to Business with Google’s antitrust battles.
Let’s face it. When it comes to navigating the internet, Google is kind of inescapable.
Yeah, you can say that.
It's like Google's the backbone of how we actually use the internet now.
And that's exactly why these antitrust lawsuits are such a big deal. They could completely change how we find information online, forever.
No kidding. And we're not talking about just one legal battle, but two.
Yeah, two huge ones.
The first one wrapped up just last month in August, all about Google search.
Mm hm.
And the other, it's kicking off right now in September.
This month, yes. And this one is all about their advertising business.
Right. Okay. Let's go back to the antitrust lawsuit surrounding the search business.
The lawsuit that concluded last month?
Yeah.
Where US District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google had violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act and had acted as an illegal monopoly in the internet search marketplace.
Yes, that one. What exactly is the Sherman Act?
The Sherman Act is a US antitrust law that dates back to the 1890s.
And Section 2?
Section 2 basically says that it is illegal for a person or company to monopolize any part of a trade or commerce.
Well, it's pretty much common knowledge that Google's got a grip on the search market, to say the least.
90.48% as of the end of August to be exact.
Wow, over 90%?! It's kind of sad for the other players. You know, Bing. Duck, Duck, Go.
Well for what it's worth, Google’s market share has decreased from just under 93% to that 90.48% mark, just over the last year.
Still, Google is a juggernaut. But here's my question. Did Google get that big just from making a better product? How did they manage to get so dominant?
Well, part of it's because they were really good at something known in the search business as exclusive contracts.
Exclusive contracts?
Google spends billions, with a B, just so they can be the default search engine on platforms.
Default? Like, the only option on your smartphone?
On your smartphone, your tablet, even on your desktop web browser like Safari or Firefox. Google Search is right there in your face, ready to go.
Mmm. So, Google paid manufacturers and developers to be the only game in town. No one else even has a shot.
You got it. And that was a big no no for Judge Mehta in the antitrust case last month.
That’s totally understandable. It’s unfair. Imagine if, say Coca Cola paid every supermarket to only sell their cola. Smaller soda companies would … wouldn't stand a chance.
Exactly. And people wouldn't even know there were other choices out there.
So you're telling me by snagging those default spots on all of our devices, Google basically shut out any real competition.
And most people, they just go with the flow. They stick with whatever's already there. Think about it Samantha. Have you ever gone out of your way to change the default search engine on your phone?
Mmm. No, you know what? Never. I’ve never even think about it. It's just there.
That’s right. That is what is known as consumer inertia — the tendency for a consumer to choose the same products over time because they are easier to access.
Not because the product is good or better than its competitor, its just easier to access. Or it's more difficult to change to another brand.
That’s exactly what consumer inertia is and what Judge Mehta in the antitrust case was talking about. It just stifles competition. Pure and simple.
Wow. So, now that a US court has found Google to be an illegal monopoly, the million dollar question is, is this it for Google?
Well, before we answer that, let's switch gears a little, and talk about the other lawsuit, the one that started this month.
The advertising one.
It’s better known as the AdTech case, but yes. It is all about the technology Google uses to sell advertising.
And this is where the real money is, advertising.
Advertising is really the core of Google’s empire. We are talking billions and billions of dollars in revenue.
And what has made Google the king of the whole thing?
Alright, so, picture this. There are millions and millions of content based websites on the internet and they are all looking to earn some kind of revenue by selling ad space on their websites or intertwined in their content.
Sure, it makes sense. Why not sell products to all of the eyeballs who are consuming your content. It’s a good business model if you can find the advertisers.
Then, on the flip side, you have got companies, big and small, with stuff to sell, dying to get those ads out there.
Supply and demand, classic. So where does Google fit in?
They are the ones calling the shots. And they’re not just middlemen. Think of them more like, I don't know, the mafia godfather of the whole system. They're everywhere. Google is deciding which ads get seen, how much companies have to pay for the ads, and even where and when those ads pop up.
So it's not really a level playing field. It's more like Google owns the field, the stadium, the whole shebang. They make the rules.
Pretty much. And this lawsuit is saying they have been using that power to shut down the competition and maybe even jack up prices for advertisers.
And I'm guessing if advertisers are paying more to place their ads, that cost trickles down to us.
Eventually yes, consumers get stuck with the bill. Higher prices for everything. Plus those super annoying intrusive ads. You know, the ones you never asked for.
Don't remind me. The pop ups, the autoplay videos, the ones that are unskippable.
All because of this advertising system Google controls.
So break this down for those of us who aren't lawyers or tech geniuses, Skip. Google was found guilty of being an illegal monopoly in the Search Engine business last month. Currently, they're fighting another battle in the AdTech area of their business.
You’re wondering what kind of punishment Google is looking at?
Yeah. Are they going to be broken up like, uh, who was it, AT& T, the giant US telephone company in the 80s?
It's hard to say for sure because we’re a long way off from finding out. Of course Google is appealing last month’s ruling, and this AdTech lawsuit is far from finished.
Hmm. Well, humor me. What are some possible outcomes if Google loses their appeal and is found guilty?
It could go a few different ways. First off, they could actually force Google to change how they do business.
Like what kind of changes?
We're talking big changes. They could actually break up the company like AT&T. Have Google Search in one company over here and Google Ads in another company over there. Completely separate businesses.
Wow? Google could actually be broken up?
It's a possibility, for sure. And then there's the impact on us, you know, the everyday internet users.
Like less annoying ads.
Maybe. Or more variety in our search results, since there would be more competition.
Hmm.
Who knows? We might actually discover some websites we didn't even know existed before.
Oh, I kind of like the sound of that.
Me too. But the thing is, these antitrust cases, they are setting a precedent for how we deal with big tech companies in the future. If Google loses — you better believe companies like Amazon, Apple, Meta, they are going to be watching.
There could be a domino effect.
Exactly. This case has everyone in Silicon Valley sweating a little bit, and for good reason.
Yes. This is huge. This is about more than just Google, isn't it?
It is. It's about the future of how we use the internet and how we all get information.
And on that note, I think it's time for us to get D2V … Down to Vocabulary. First up on Down to Vocabulary today is the noun, a truism. A truism is a statement that is obviously true. Something that is so true to everyone, that you don’t even need to say it's true, it's obvious.
I used ‘truism’ in the introduction today when Samantha and I were discussing professional growth.
That's right. When I said, "Professional growth is always a good thing." you responded by calling it a truism.
In other words, I was saying that it is a widely accepted belief, or truth, that professional development is a good thing.
Can you give us other business examples of 'truism'?
Sure. “The customer is always right.", “It takes money to make money,”, “The harder you work, the luckier you get”.
“There's no such thing as a free lunch”.
Yes, that is another truism. The thing about truisms, even though they are almost always true, sometimes they are not.
Like in Google’s case about growing too big — the premise of our entire report today.
Precisely. Let’s move on.
Good idea.
Our next item on D2V today is the noun juggernaut. A juggernaut is a massive, powerful, and overwhelming force or institution that seems unstoppable.
A juggernaut is something that dominates in its field or industry, crushing all competitors in its path. It just keeps growing and gaining momentum.
When we were discussing Google's dominance in the search market, after I mentioned Google's market share in search engines had actually decreased slightly over the last year, Samantha commented by saying, "Still, Google is a juggernaut."
I meant that even though they have lost a little market share recently, Google is still this enormous, powerful company that dominates the search engine market.
Can you give us another business-related example of a juggernaut?
Walmart has become a juggernaut in the retail industry. Its massive scale, extensive supply chains, and the ability to offer low prices have made it incredibly difficult for smaller retailers to compete, especially in many small towns across the US, Canada, and the UK.
Every time I visit Canada, my very first stop is at a Walmart to go shopping.
It's hard to beat their prices.
What's our next word?
Our final item today is the idiomatic use of the verb phrase ‘to switch gears’. To switch gears means to change the subject of a conversation or direction of an activity.
It’s like when you're driving a car and you shift from one gear into another. In a conversation it means you're changing topics or approaching something from a different angle.
Skip used this phrase in our discussion about Google's antitrust battles. When I asked him what was going to happen to Google now that they've been found guilty of being an illegal monopoly, he said, "Before we answer that, let's switch gears a little, and talk about the other lawsuit, the one that started this month."
By using this phrase, I indicated to Samantha that before I answered her question, I wanted to change the focus of our conversation from one lawsuit to another.
Skip wanted to move from the Search Engine case to the AdTech case.
Exactly.
Can you give us a business-related example using 'switching gears'?
Sure. Imagine you are in a marketing meeting and your team leader suddenly says, "Okay everyone, we have spent enough time talking about our social media strategy. Let's switch gears and discuss our email campaign."
Email campaigns? Are they still a thing?
Oh, for sure. Even in today’s age of social media and AI, a good old fashioned email campaign is still a marketing juggernaut.
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And that is our report on Google’s Antitrust Battles. We hope everyone enjoyed it.
D2B Members and Apple Podcast subscribers, the Bonus vocabulary episode for today’s D2B will drop soon.
Soon? What do you mean by ‘soon’?
You know, soon. I’d say within 48 hours … if everything goes smoothly.
Okay, I hope things go smoothly.
So do I.
The words and phrases we will focus on in the Bonus D2V episode will be — to catch one’s breath, to have one’s hands full, to wrap up, to stifle, and the whole shebang.
Lot’s of verbs and idioms on that list.
There are.
So, if you are a D2B member, that bonus D2V episode will be in your Members-only RSS feed very soon. So you want to make sure to visit your Member’s account on the D2B website and get your RSS feed.
And Apple Podcast subscribers, you don’t need to do anything. The bonus D2V episode will appear automatically in your Apple Podcast app as soon as it is released.
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Take care.
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