Google's 'Monopoly' Hex

[Commentary] Regulators abhor a vacuum, so it is fitting that on this month's 10th anniversary of the antitrust judgment against Microsoft, the Federal Trade Commission alerted Google that it's now under investigation as a monopolist.

Considering how much intense competition Microsoft has faced for years, a government claim of monopoly is best understood as a hex—and a lagging indicator that, to the contrary, Google has passed its greatest point of market power. Google must now amass an untold number of lawyers, lobbyists and PR firms to fight the antitrust action. In the process, there is a real risk Google will become less of an innovator as its focus switches to Washington from Silicon Valley and to lobbying regulators from pleasing consumers. For their part, regulators seem to have forgotten that the antitrust laws were written to protect consumers, not competitors. Unlike regulators, few in Silicon Valley these days view Google as an unstoppable force. Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists should recall that leaders of earlier industries such as steel and autos were at least sophisticated enough to know that business executives need to hang together against regulators or risk getting hanged separately.