Google and the M Word

Is Google a monopoly? Scott Cleland thinks so.  At a Monday presentation hosted by the Federalist Society, the tech consultant laid out his case for why Google is already acting in a monopolistic fashion.

The presentation – which can be found here in its entirety – covers four main points that brand a wide range of Google activities with the M word:

1. Google is a monopoly.
2. Google is a digital information distribution bottleneck.
3. Google’s antitrust defense is specious.
4. Google’s behavior is broadly predatory and anti-competitive.

Interestingly, Cleland includes the GBS in his “Top Ten List of Google’s Anti-competitive Behavior.” Specifically, he writes:

In the pending Book Settlement, Google seeks to exclude competitors from search access of the ill-gotten orphan works database, information the DOJ told the court that competitors need access to in order to compete.

Of course, Cleland isn’t the first to question if Google has become a monopoly. He is part of a growing chorus that is beginning to ask just how much power is too much.