Some notes on Google using it’s search monopoly to quash ideas it does not like from this article by Kashmir Hill:

This sounded like a news story to me. Google’s dominance in search and news give it tremendous power over publishers. By tying search results to the use of Plus, Google was using that muscle to force people to promote its social network.

This is nothing new, for sure. And it’s not only Google, I’m sure any of the current Internet silos we all live in do the same. Their reliance on locking people in means they make self-serving decisions which are against the interests of their users. All the more reason to support research from groups like Citizens Against Monopoly.

Note, the updated note from a Google VP of communications is worth reading at the end, as well. Always interesting to see how the companies with built-in monopolies respond when poked about their monopolies.