Should?we really be regulating our most innovative?companies?

While I was away last week I was struck by a series of stories related to regulators' attempts to curb the power of big tech. One was aimed at Google, suggesting the company sells its Chrome browser and Android operating system; the other was related to limiting Apple’s influence on the browser market.

The argument - in both cases - is that these big tech companies are stifling innovation from smaller competitors. And while it’s not like me to take the side of the big tech companies, I do have some sympathy for them here.

I’m old enough to remember searching before Google: the total disarray of searching with Lycos or Alta Vista, wondering whether you’d actually get any results related to the search term you requested. When Google search arrived it was completely transformative. Not only did it look clean and simple (not dissimilar to today in fact) with no links to a pile of irrelevant crap, but - most importantly - the results actually delivered the pages you wanted.? Google search won because it was simply better than the alternatives.

Back then everyone (pretty much) used Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape as a browser.? At launch, Google Chrome had no market share. But it built a better browser and won. When Google launched Gmail it had no legacy email platform to build on. But it was better than anything else on the market, so people adopted it. And Google won.

Time and again, Google has invested and innovated, delivering a superior product and stealing the market. Is this not how we want companies to behave? Should the company really be punished for creating better products people want to use?

I know there are browser alternatives that care more about privacy than Google. I’ve tried them all at some point and still gone back to Chrome – possibly out of habit but probably because the Google product was better.

Surely the most effective way to get me to change from Google products is not to legislate, it’s for companies to make better products than Google.

Jaguar’s been having a bit of a week after its re-launched logo and brand advert. I’m still not convinced this is not all a giant scam that will be revealed in the goodness of time. Meanwhile marketers are queueing up to have their say. One of the most balanced and rational views I’ve read came from my colleague Ben Davies – it’s worth two minutes of your time.

Exhibition & Events Calendar

A round-up of the big events coming your way over the next three months

Fancy a catch up? If it’s been a while since we last spoke it would be great to catch up again.

https://calendly.com/chris-bignell-thejargongroup/