Google: The most efficient discrimination device in human history

"Charging for Google is like charging for air" this is a quote from an Oxford student at a Google encouraged "creativity session" on net neutrality. Â The thought embodies Google's goal to be as ubiquitous on the Internet as air is to humans. Where the metaphor crashes and burns is that Google does in fact charge for "air" -- it just charges others than the user for the privilige. Google is paid by advertisers the equivalent of 11 cents per search discrimination result.

• Lets be real. Google does not work for users, users don't pay them anything.
• Google works for advertisers; 99% of Google's revenues come from search advertising. Â 

As one of the greatest economic thinkers of all time, the late great Milton Friedman, said: "There is no free lunch." Somebody pays for it.

While users may not pay 11 cents directly for every one of their searches, advertisers indirectly pay Google the equivalent of 11 cents a search. Why? Because Google discriminates for them -- Google gives their content a very valuable placement advantage over sites that don't or won't pay the search discrimination fee to gain a competitive advantage.  

• Let's cut to the chase. Google discriminates by giving those who pay Google the most money the most prominence in its searches. That's Google's business model and it has been wildly successful.
• Google has proven that business discrimination for a fee works. They have become a $140b company by being the most efficient discrimination device in human history.
• Through a net neutrality lens, this discrimination harms all the little sites that can't afford to pay the highest amount in order to appear at the top of search results.
• This discrimination matters:  As Ted Leonsis a cofounder of AOL said: "you don't exist from page three on."  
• If bloggers and small websites are worried about their broadband provider charging users anything but one neutral price...why wouldn't they be worried about search engines, practically "discriminating" them out of existence?