HN commenters defending Apple have stated many times that iOS installations do not comprise a majority share of the "smartphone" market.
Can we assume that if Microsoft paid Apple to be the default search engine in iOS instead of Google then Microsoft would have market share, or some other source of monopoly power, sufficient to allow the DoJ and state AGs to bring essentially the same antitrust case against Microsoft.
There is this ridiculous "argument" from HN commenters I see sometimes, too often, when "developers" or so-called "tech" companies they work for are caught doing something wrong. It goes something like, "If we didn't do it, then someone else would have so don't blame us."
Can we assume that if Microsoft paid Apple to be the default search engine in iOS instead of Google then Microsoft would have the same market power as Google. (Without sufficient market power, making a case like this one against Google is not possible)
HN commenter #1:
> Why not just stop making the anti-competitive payments and terminate the agreements. Money saved. Problem solved.
"It's only solved if nobody does it. If Google stops those payments unilaterally MS would just make a slightly cheaper deal with Apple.."
HN commenter #2:
"It's no longer a competitive market. MS can lowball like crazy now"
HN commenter #3:
"I think the point is that if Google is not allowed to make such payments, neither is Microsoft (unless they want to risk the same lawsuit against them)."
it's more complicated than that. if MS paid Apple to be the default that would probably be anti-competitive against even smaller search engines. (but paying for search traffic is likely not in itself anti-competitive. doing it to keep others out of the market is when you are Google. where's the boundary? well, yes, it's complicated, depends on which market, what audience, how easy it is to switch providers, etc.)
Can we assume that if Microsoft paid Apple to be the default search engine in iOS instead of Google then Microsoft would have market share, or some other source of monopoly power, sufficient to allow the DoJ and state AGs to bring essentially the same antitrust case against Microsoft.
There is this ridiculous "argument" from HN commenters I see sometimes, too often, when "developers" or so-called "tech" companies they work for are caught doing something wrong. It goes something like, "If we didn't do it, then someone else would have so don't blame us."