Google: Lawmaker, Cop, Judge, Jury, Executioner -- No Appeals

"Google Cuts Overstock Ranking" is the WSJ headline today. On the heels of Google's recent high-profile demotion of JC Penny's ranking and yesterday's antitrust complaint from French company 1PlusV, people are beginning to see that Googleopoly does indeed have the awesome power to pick winners and losers in the Internet economy.

Anytime a company tries to sell or market themselves on the Internet to maximize links, the currency of the Google Internet content economy, they have to worry if Google will accuse and execute them for the offense of competition or capitalism, and then be buried where they cannot be found by Google's unique/monopoly worldwide mass market Internet audience.

  • Google's not so subtle message to everyone is that Google is the world's Supreme Ranker, and anyone that tries to increase their rank in a way that the Supreme Ranker frowns upon, swift Google justice will befall them.

What should concern antitrust authorities, the DOJ, FTC, the EU and the Texas AG, is that there are more and more public examples of how Google is lording over the Internet content economy as lawmaker, cop, judge, jury and executioner -- all rolled into one.

There is no due process, transparency, accountability or appeals in the Google Justice system because Google's motto is "don't be evil" -- so by definition any decision by Google is tautologically just and infallible.

The old adage is true here, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.