Thoughts and notes from the FTC discussion on digital platform and competition, plus how Google’s remedy in Europe will mean more of the same when it comes to Android.
The Battle for the Home
Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook are battling for the home; what are their strengths, weaknesses, go-to-market strategies, and business models, and who is the favorite? Or does it matter?
Data Factories
Facebook and Google and other advertising businesses are data factories, and regulation will be most effective if it lets users look inside
AMD and Modularity Follow-Up, Trump and Tech, Tech’s Vulnerability
The problem with AMD’s modularity approach; then, Trump attacks tech. The claims are baseless but that hardly means the industry is in the clear.
The Bill Gates Line
Understanding the differences between aggregators and platforms matters for companies interacting with them and also regulators considering antitrust.
The Moat Map
The Moat Map describes the correlation between the degree of supplier differentiation and the externalization (or internalization) of a company’s network effect.
The Facebook Brand
The Facebook brand is, due to Facebook’s strategic choices, about not respecting privacy. That is why the Cambridge Analytica story is such a problem for the company.
Google Sells Zagat to The Infatuation, The Infatuation and Zagat, More on Google and AMP
A review of why Google bought Zagat, what The Infatuation might do with the review site, and the parallels with the AMP project.
More on Chrome and AMP, The Case Against Google, Decentralization and Paradigm Shifts
More on Chrome and AMP, and what The Case Against Google gets wrong about Microsoft. Then, why decentralized networks are aggregator kryptonite.
Google’s Earnings, Amazon’s Earnings
Google gives greater clarity to its acquisition costs, and cloud continues to grow. Amazon, though, still has a big lead, funding the rest of the company (still).