A Post-Google World?

Antitrust, Regulation, and Google’s Power

• Many see Google as a particularly “meaty” antitrust target: heavy reliance on acquisitions, Android being FOSS (weakening IP defenses), past collusion allegations (e.g., ad deals), poor litigation behavior, and lack of a single “visionary” figure to shield it politically.
• Some ask how much of this is truly antitrust versus normal big‑company behavior or standard acquisition playbooks.
• There is debate on why other platforms (especially Facebook/Meta) don’t receive equal scrutiny despite similar or worse externalities.
• Several commenters expect real remedies to be slow and easily worked around via appeals and business adaptation.

Dependence on Google Services and “Too Big to Fail”

• One camp argues that society is deeply dependent on Google’s loss‑leading services (Gmail, Docs, Maps, SSO, Chromebooks, education tools), so a sharp decline or breakup would be socially disruptive.
• Others counter that alternatives already exist for nearly everything; disruption would hurt for 1–2 years but be manageable and might spur healthier competition.
• Integration, compliance, identity management, and “it just works” ecosystems are seen as Google’s real moat, not raw features.

SaaS, Ownership, and Public Infrastructure

• Strong thread arguing current SaaS/renting models misalign incentives, enable surveillance and lock‑in, and should be replaced or complemented by user‑owned, open‑source, or nonprofit infrastructure (search, email, forums, social).
• Others note that paid SaaS can be fine when customers directly fund it, but legal/technical lock‑in and faux‑open‑source models are problems.
• Some liken Google’s role to privatized public infrastructure and suggest utility‑like regulation or even nationalization; others warn governments can also starve such utilities.

Search, Quality, and Emerging Competitors

• Many feel Google Search has degraded (“enshittified”), especially compared with newer paid engines (e.g., Kagi) or alternative indices (Yandex, OpenStreetMap for maps).
• Concern that if Google’s ad margins fall, free services will shrink or become more aggressively monetized, pushing users to paid competitors and potentially improving the ecosystem—though poorer users may be left with worse free options.

Android, App Stores, and Lock‑In

• Debate over how “open” Android really is: while alternative app stores and sideloading exist, Google allegedly uses scare screens, contracts, and payments to suppress real competition.
• Others argue AOSP and OEM control limit Google’s ability to abuse Android compared to more closed platforms, and that apps depending on Play Services is largely a developer choice.