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Eric Schmidt has offered a somewhat surprising defence for Google's activities as a response to criticism by European publishers that Google is too dominant a force. Google's executive chairman wrote: "We built Google for users, not websites".
Some European publishers ran newspaper ads at the weekend arguing that Google also favoured its own products - such as Maps, YouTube and Google Shopping - in its search results.
Schmidt countered: "Given the serious nature of these allegations, I wanted to ensure that people have the facts so they can judge the merits of the case themselves."
He began by arguing that Google is not necessarily "the gateway to the internet" as the publishers suggested.
People were more likely, he contended, to go directly to the sites they favour whether they are searching for news, buying products, booking flights or seeking reviews for restaurants or local services.
Mobile phone users would also tend to use their dedicated apps to check the sports scores or share photos or look for recommendations. "The most downloaded app in Europe is not Google, it is Facebook Messenger," he wrote.
Schmidt continued: "Nor is it true to say that we are promoting our own products at the expense of the competition.
"We show the results at the top that answer the user's queries directly (after all we built Google for users, not websites)." He offered "some real-life examples:
"Ask for the weather and we give you the local weather right at the top. This means weather sites rank lower, and get less traffic. But because it's good for users, we think that's OK.
It's the same if you want to buy something (whether it's shoes or insurance). We try to show you different offers and websites where you can actually purchase stuff -- not links to specialized search engines (which rank lower) where you have to repeat your query.
If you're after directions to the nearest pharmacy, you get a Google Map with the closest stores and information to get you there. Again we think that's a great result for users."
Source: Google
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