There was an independent European computer industry in the 80’s and 90’s. We could have rejected US companies and standards. We chose not to and let Microsoft and intel dominate the market.
From that choice the rest flows.
FitSyrup2403 on
Use DuckDuckGo
Agitated-Airline6760 on
Money. Without venture capital, Google would’ve been a nice graduate side project.
hhtty47 on
Why is there no European McDonalds?
There are European search engines, Google is just too big of a competition. Textbook case of ‘first to market’.
Stoic_cave on
Optics
tranbun on
Google paid many companies like Apple and Mozilla to make it default search engine. By the time the choice dialog was enforced, it was too late, it was just too integrated by then. Also, huge capital in Silicon Valley, back then there was nothing comparable (still isn’t, in Europe at least, but Chinese can compete) in terms of top universities, huge corporations with enormous budgets and small companies that grew rapidly in one place with somewhat little regulation. It’s also still very fragmented as startups usually hop from country to country opening localized versions in Europe, user base is as fragmented and every step is a small product, unlike US market.
And the most important aspect: all top advertisers are in US, Google still is basically a fancy way to sell ads.
But if we read the article, yea, Americans can sell almost everything, doesn’t mean that the “almost everything” is better than something else.
SoSmartKappa on
You dont a whole article about it.
It is because google was early adopter, had good advertisement, support and connections in stanford, large initial market to scale, and nowadays already have the userbase with many layers of systems attached to it.
Even if you create google2 that will be objectively a better service, people wont move there now, because nobody is there, and people are too lazy to disconnect themselves from services that they are using for decades, just to be somewhere where it is less convinient due to lack of userbase.
Its a monopoly that grows larger each year, as there is more and more things and users attached to it
In Czech Republic we had similiar search engine 2 years before google started (seznam.cz in 1996), although it was and still is very popular site here, the reason why it did not scaled up as fast as google are quite obvious (smaller market size, smaller capital investment, smaller job market, smaller initial hype due to smaller media reach and smaller population, language barrier etc).
When something get popular in USA, it gets quickly popular everywhere, when something gets popular in small country, it usually stay there until copy of that product gets popular in USA too. I mean, we can see it right now, this sub is flooded with stuff from USA on daily basis, we are discussing anything USA related 24/7.
What would do wonders for Europe, is to create great firewall of Europe as in China, and create our own ecosystems here. Otherwise it will be always pigtailing American medias/trends/services, right now, our entire ecosystem is digitaly colonized, and it is only getting worse.
robot001 on
Because google was good. So everyone used it. I’m not thinking about geopolitical strategy when I just want to look something up
EnergyOwn6800 on
There is.
They just aren’t as good.
There is a European version of Reddit as well but you all choose to use Reddit instead.
HumanBeing7396 on
Eugle
Working_Historian970 on
Anti monopoly laws?
mariuszmie on
No European google or visa or twitter or iCloud or starlink because for 80 years there was a comfortable arrangement between Europe and USA – use is the super/hyper power with all the tech the infrastructure the influence and the power while Europe gets to relax but it’s the customer paying for everything yet doesn’t have to do a thing
Chester_roaster on
Because European regulation would have crushed a few geniuses working out of a garage
almightyloaf666 on
Idk, Qwant works good enough as a search engine. Sure, they don’t have the plethora of services google has, but come on, they also don’t have the money google has.
Unique_Squash_7023 on
Morals
ikertxu on
Let it go. The game has changed. Aim for innovation. Wait
smokeyjay on
Didn’t read the article. But here is the answer. Microsoft spent more than 100 billion and 20 years on Bing and still failed.
BassesBest on
Autonomy could have been it. The search algorithms on their software in 2002 were well ahead of anything else I was testing at the time, particularly for understanding the context of the search.
But they never got out of boxed software, culminating in the sale to HP, and HP’s complete failure to grasp what they were buying.
Of course the overvaluation (by what in the end was decided in court to be about 8%), and the deaths of the two people acquitted of wrongdoing within two months of the hearing, have been the headlines here.
mrlloydslastcandle on
Ask DeepMind.
TheOnsiteEngineer on
Because google figured out a business model to rule the ad industry before anyone else, pulled up the ladder behind itself and made sure no-one could compete with them in the same way later. Oh, and that business model is almost certainly illegal in the EU.
citramonk on
because Google operates in Europe as well?
Hias2019 on
nobody searched for it?
08148694 on
Google made the best product
When the product is free that means its also the best value
When the product can be accessed from anywhere in the world that removes any geographical incentive to use anything else
kuldan5853 on
Well, as with other tools like OS, Social Media etc, it is generally better if the userbase concentrates on one platform.
More often than not, this platform was American (like Reddit is as well).
There’s other cases where it was the other way around – Spotify to my knowledge dominates in the US as well, and that’s European.
Back when the Internet was in its infancy and getting traction, we all had a more or less hopeful outlook of more global connectivity, interaction, and growing closer together rather than apart – so “me, me,ME!” or “digital sovereignity” was simply not high on the agenda.
We were all naive and idealistic and building a global world for everyone.
sajukktheeternal on
Because google will make sure there will never be another google, european or otherwise. They will use their pre-installed android playstore to drown it, their pre-installed chrome to suffocate it, or they will just buy it out.
Absolutely ZERO chances that an alternative to google will ever appear, even among other US big tech
Gludens on
I didn’t think aboutbit that way. Cool perspective, and he has a good point! We think about the common good more when it comes to big solutions.
geldwolferink on
Because no European CIA.
karateninjazombie on
Shots expensive and taken the better part of 25+ years to snow ball from a garage operation to the evil mega corp or is today.
If you can get evil mega corp levels of seed money. You might have an outside chance. Otherwise you’re going to struggle. And even them with the mo eye it isn’t guarantee.
The US venture capital is a subsidy. They keep interests low by deficit spending and pump up liquidity. EU accepted that us tech companies make losses for 10 years and kill European competition.
stu66er on
Why is there no fb? A public town square without ads that requires eu nationality to access .
Xauder on
I have a feeling that people who wrote the top comments didn’t even read the article. The real question isn’t why we don’t have European Google. The real question is whether such a company is even desirable.
obrhoff on
You could also argue the brain drain from EU to the US because of higher salaries. You just couldn’t not find the people here since everyone with talent moves to the US for money. It’s still a problem if you look at the difference. Just look at the AI Job Market. Why stay in Europe if you could work for a million dollar at a VC funded US company.
Allesmoeglichee on
Even if there were, the EU would force you to upload 3 forms of identification to use it
M0therN4ture on
There was. It was bought out by a company now known as… Google.
37 commenti
Thats The Billion Dollar Question Code https://youtu.be/iDvPvqImb-4
Because that name is taken
We bought American, it is that simple.
There was an independent European computer industry in the 80’s and 90’s. We could have rejected US companies and standards. We chose not to and let Microsoft and intel dominate the market.
From that choice the rest flows.
Use DuckDuckGo
Money. Without venture capital, Google would’ve been a nice graduate side project.
Why is there no European McDonalds?
There are European search engines, Google is just too big of a competition. Textbook case of ‘first to market’.
Optics
Google paid many companies like Apple and Mozilla to make it default search engine. By the time the choice dialog was enforced, it was too late, it was just too integrated by then. Also, huge capital in Silicon Valley, back then there was nothing comparable (still isn’t, in Europe at least, but Chinese can compete) in terms of top universities, huge corporations with enormous budgets and small companies that grew rapidly in one place with somewhat little regulation. It’s also still very fragmented as startups usually hop from country to country opening localized versions in Europe, user base is as fragmented and every step is a small product, unlike US market.
And the most important aspect: all top advertisers are in US, Google still is basically a fancy way to sell ads.
But if we read the article, yea, Americans can sell almost everything, doesn’t mean that the “almost everything” is better than something else.
You dont a whole article about it.
It is because google was early adopter, had good advertisement, support and connections in stanford, large initial market to scale, and nowadays already have the userbase with many layers of systems attached to it.
Even if you create google2 that will be objectively a better service, people wont move there now, because nobody is there, and people are too lazy to disconnect themselves from services that they are using for decades, just to be somewhere where it is less convinient due to lack of userbase.
Its a monopoly that grows larger each year, as there is more and more things and users attached to it
In Czech Republic we had similiar search engine 2 years before google started (seznam.cz in 1996), although it was and still is very popular site here, the reason why it did not scaled up as fast as google are quite obvious (smaller market size, smaller capital investment, smaller job market, smaller initial hype due to smaller media reach and smaller population, language barrier etc).
When something get popular in USA, it gets quickly popular everywhere, when something gets popular in small country, it usually stay there until copy of that product gets popular in USA too. I mean, we can see it right now, this sub is flooded with stuff from USA on daily basis, we are discussing anything USA related 24/7.
What would do wonders for Europe, is to create great firewall of Europe as in China, and create our own ecosystems here. Otherwise it will be always pigtailing American medias/trends/services, right now, our entire ecosystem is digitaly colonized, and it is only getting worse.
Because google was good. So everyone used it. I’m not thinking about geopolitical strategy when I just want to look something up
There is.
They just aren’t as good.
There is a European version of Reddit as well but you all choose to use Reddit instead.
Eugle
Anti monopoly laws?
No European google or visa or twitter or iCloud or starlink because for 80 years there was a comfortable arrangement between Europe and USA – use is the super/hyper power with all the tech the infrastructure the influence and the power while Europe gets to relax but it’s the customer paying for everything yet doesn’t have to do a thing
Because European regulation would have crushed a few geniuses working out of a garage
Idk, Qwant works good enough as a search engine. Sure, they don’t have the plethora of services google has, but come on, they also don’t have the money google has.
Morals
Let it go. The game has changed. Aim for innovation. Wait
Didn’t read the article. But here is the answer. Microsoft spent more than 100 billion and 20 years on Bing and still failed.
Autonomy could have been it. The search algorithms on their software in 2002 were well ahead of anything else I was testing at the time, particularly for understanding the context of the search.
But they never got out of boxed software, culminating in the sale to HP, and HP’s complete failure to grasp what they were buying.
Of course the overvaluation (by what in the end was decided in court to be about 8%), and the deaths of the two people acquitted of wrongdoing within two months of the hearing, have been the headlines here.
Ask DeepMind.
Because google figured out a business model to rule the ad industry before anyone else, pulled up the ladder behind itself and made sure no-one could compete with them in the same way later. Oh, and that business model is almost certainly illegal in the EU.
because Google operates in Europe as well?
nobody searched for it?
Google made the best product
When the product is free that means its also the best value
When the product can be accessed from anywhere in the world that removes any geographical incentive to use anything else
Well, as with other tools like OS, Social Media etc, it is generally better if the userbase concentrates on one platform.
More often than not, this platform was American (like Reddit is as well).
There’s other cases where it was the other way around – Spotify to my knowledge dominates in the US as well, and that’s European.
Back when the Internet was in its infancy and getting traction, we all had a more or less hopeful outlook of more global connectivity, interaction, and growing closer together rather than apart – so “me, me,ME!” or “digital sovereignity” was simply not high on the agenda.
We were all naive and idealistic and building a global world for everyone.
Because google will make sure there will never be another google, european or otherwise. They will use their pre-installed android playstore to drown it, their pre-installed chrome to suffocate it, or they will just buy it out.
Absolutely ZERO chances that an alternative to google will ever appear, even among other US big tech
I didn’t think aboutbit that way. Cool perspective, and he has a good point! We think about the common good more when it comes to big solutions.
Because no European CIA.
Shots expensive and taken the better part of 25+ years to snow ball from a garage operation to the evil mega corp or is today.
If you can get evil mega corp levels of seed money. You might have an outside chance. Otherwise you’re going to struggle. And even them with the mo eye it isn’t guarantee.
there is [https://www.startpage.com/](https://www.startpage.com/) which is based in Netherlands
The US venture capital is a subsidy. They keep interests low by deficit spending and pump up liquidity. EU accepted that us tech companies make losses for 10 years and kill European competition.
Why is there no fb? A public town square without ads that requires eu nationality to access .
I have a feeling that people who wrote the top comments didn’t even read the article. The real question isn’t why we don’t have European Google. The real question is whether such a company is even desirable.
You could also argue the brain drain from EU to the US because of higher salaries. You just couldn’t not find the people here since everyone with talent moves to the US for money. It’s still a problem if you look at the difference. Just look at the AI Job Market. Why stay in Europe if you could work for a million dollar at a VC funded US company.
Even if there were, the EU would force you to upload 3 forms of identification to use it
There was. It was bought out by a company now known as… Google.