The growing popularity of specialized search engines weakens the assertion by the European Union that Google is hurting consumers. Over recent years, the popularity of specialized search engines has been increasing such as Amazon and popular travel sites such as Trivago. The increased usage of these specialized websites indicates that consumers are getting more information from search engines such as Amazon shopping sites and decided on the websites to get information rather than searching on the main google search engine (Choi and Kinshuk 154). Such a trend underscores the argument that Google is hurting the needs and interests of consumers. In many instances, the search results from Google have a significant impact on the choices and preferences of the consumers. Today, internet users are highly informed and understand what they want from search engines. The EU should also understand that Google is a profit entity and will invest in strategies to grow its platforms in the industry.
Further, social media networking sites such as Twitter and Instagram have become more popular. Such sites give users access to information about a wide range of products and services and allow companies to run advertisements and marketing campaigns. Google is not the only source of information for companies and their products (Iacobucci and Francesco 16). People are now spending more time on the social media sites such as Twitter due to the opportunity to share information and communicate. The European Commission found that Google was dominant and hurting consumers. The commission argued that the company discourages innovation while limiting brokers and other partners from displaying advertisements. The search engine is a profit entity and will continuously pursue strategies that grow its revenues and earnings (Kang, David and Daisuke). Google is very innovative, and its investment in research and development continues to give them competitiveness in the market. Therefore, Google’s search engine cannot be determined as hurting consumers because it is a profit organization that will continuously innovate to attract users.
