The Tech Giant (Maybe) Monopoly

Illustration by chloe geschwind

It's become nearly impossible to ignore the influence and reach that tech giants like Facebook and Alphabet Incorporated (Google) have. Alphabet's Google is the most used search engine in the world. According to netmarketshare.com, about 75 percent of all online searches are done via Google. Facebook, according to their newsroom blog, reports about 2.4 billion monthly active users and another 300 million users that use services connected to Facebook. To put that into perspective, that's about 35 percent of the world's population.

By legal definition, Facebook and Alphabet are not monopolies. Facebook doesn't have a stranglehold on online communication, as there are other ways of connecting to others through sites or apps like Discord, Twitter, or even Snapchat. Google is the most dominant search engine in the world but there are others like Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo. Facebook and Google aren't the only options in their respective industries, but while they aren't technically monopolies, this doesn't stop them from engaging in monopolistic behavior.

Facebook, according to Techwyse, currently owns Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. They have also acquired companies like Oculus VR and Face.com to further bolster their social networking prowess. Google, according to Investopedia, owns companies like AdSense and Doubleclick to generate large amounts of ad revenue to a point wherein they earned over $30 billion in 2019's second quarter, and most famously acquired YouTube back in 2006, which has now become the world's most popular video streaming website. 

Now on the surface this all just seems like companies simply building their brands, bettering their products, and making smart business decisions. But looking back on decisions like Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp or even Google and YouTube's current operations, you can see the why even the U.S government is starting antitrust investigations.

Facebook purchasing WhatsApp for about $19 billion in 2014 seemed like a bold move. According to Business Insider, WhatsApp at the time had around 450 million users and was quickly growing to a point where it could've become the "next Facebook." In a Forbes article, Mark Zuckerberg even noted the growth of WhatsApp was "the only mobile app we've ever seen" that has "more growth in engagement than Facebook." 

It could be said that Facebook simply saw a business opportunity and acted on it before anyone else could, like seeing a $100 bill on the ground. However, it could also be said that they bought WhatsApp to eliminate competition.

Remember Moves? It was a fitness-tracker app that Facebook acquired. It's been defunct since 2018, despite the fact that Facebook brought the company to “work on building and improving their products and services,” according to 2014 article by TechCrunch. Facebook supposedly wanted this company to flourish.

As for Google, simply take a look at YouTube, the most dominant video sharing site in the world. Sure, there are sites like Vimeo and Dailymotion, but YouTube is the only video sharing site everyone pays attention to. It doesn't have any tangible competition and as such has become more lax when it comes to improving their website. For example, YouTube's copyright system is open to exploitation. According to an article by the Verge, one scammer used the system to extort money from smaller creators. 

Furthermore, YouTube favors television networks over its own users. Even when it does pay attention to its users, the only ones they care about are the ones who've already established themselves, the ones who've made it to the top. Its self-regulation system is laughable, especially when creators like Logan Paul, who filmed a suicide victim for views, still flourish within YouTube's system. Meanwhile, others who are trying to make a name for themselves are unable to, because when people like Logan Paul pull these stunts, YouTube goes for blanket solutions that end up hurting everyone else in the long run.

So why doesn't YouTube improve its website? Well, why should it? They know people are going to keep coming back because there's no other alternative. What other site can offer what YouTube has?

Simply put, while these two companies aren't monopolies, that hasn't stopped them from engaging in monopolistic actions. Facebook constantly buys up potential competitors, and Google is completely lax in improving its websites like YouTube due to lack of any meaningful competition.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating these companies to see if they've violated their antitrust laws, and we need to bring these investigations into the public eye. More awareness has to be brought to Google and Facebook's monopolistic practices. They need to improve and they need to be held accountable.