By Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan)
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Peter Thiel once said that “the people who have monopolies pretend not to.”
If we ever needed a tangible example, a leaked 2019 Google document highlighting 5 rules for written communication does the trick.
Obtained by The Markup, the document starts by saying, “Words matter. Especially in antitrust law” — and highlights how Microsoft got in antitrust hot water when its employees threatened to “cut off Netscape’s air supply.”
In an attempt to deflect perception of a monopoly in search and other products, Google coaches its employees. Massage your language, with some talking points:
The Markup noted that during Congress’ recent antitrust rodeo, Google CEO Sundar Pichai practiced what the company preaches.
Pichai fielded 61 questions and “did not say the words ‘network effects’ or ‘dominant’ once and steered clear of defining any particular market.” Now that’s discipline.
We have some other suggestions for how Google can try not to sound like a monopoly — ad-libbed from the American Film Institute’s top 5 movie quotes ever: