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Google spins on antitrust bills

by on29 October 2021


Will no one think of the small businesses?

It seems that Big Tech has suddenly become rather protective of small businesses with Google claiming that antitrust bills before different governments could harm SMES.

This sounds counter intuitive given that small businesses can’t form monopolies and the laws are mostly targeted at Big Tech outfits like Google which can and do.

However, it seems that Google’s spinners have decided that the way to put pressure on bought and paid for lobbied politicians is to bleat about how terrible such anti-trust laws are for SMEs. In the hope that its SME customers will rally to their support.

Apparently, the tech giant could jeopardise the services small businesses rely on. Google is emailing small and medium sized businesses that use its advertising, analytics and free business profile tools, to tell them antitrust bills in the House and Senate could "cost your business time and money".

Google said the dangers could include: Making it harder for customers to find businesses because listings, including address and business hours, may no longer appear in Google Search results or on Google Maps, and hurting the effectiveness of digital marketing if Google Ads products were broken up and disconnected from Google Analytics.

"We're concerned that Congress' controversial package of bills could have unintended consequences, especially for small businesses who have relied on digital tools to adapt, recover and reach new customers throughout the pandemic", a Google spokesperson told Axios.

Last modified on 29 October 2021
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