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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 11, 2023

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I think google is acting equally anti-competitive paying here. Maybe not today but definitely when this deal started out. They had a correct fear that someone else could come in here and establish themselves in search and use mobile as their ability to build market share in search. There is a reason they are willing to pay billions to lock up that market share.

It is illegal to sell at a loss to block entrants into a market. Search gets a little weird since the revenue comes in from the back door thru advertising but google can be argued to be committing. I’m not sure Apple monetizing the asset is illegal but google paying might be the part violating antitrust law.