Google Antitrust Trial: Economist Explains How Internet Giant Rigged Ad Auction Bidding to Boost Prices 15%
According to recent testimony in the landmark antitrust trial against Google, the internet giant strategically altered its ad auction formula in 2017, raising prices by 15 percent and potentially earning billions in extra revenue.
I think it was peter thiel who says google/alphabet is always rebranding and spending on self driving cars etc to DISTRACT from their massive search monopoly.
I think that's Google being Google and wanting to take over the world. They were never content to rest on their laurels with search. And the feeling that if you're not doing that, you're likely to be left behind. They don't want to age into a company that focuses on its strengths at the expense of doing dangerous things.
Finding a product is kind of incidental. For instance, I think Pixels came out of the need to have a reference platform for Android that Google could control. And now they are pretty good phones and judging by the advertising are at least expected to sell pretty well.