In the process, it's helped its parent company, Alphabet, become one of the most valuable businesses on the planet.

在此過程中，它幫助其母公司 Alphabet 成為全球最有價值的企業之一。

Google has accumulated unprecedented power over communication and information online.

谷歌在網絡通信和資訊方面積累了前所未有的力量。

The worry is that because Google uses its dominance in one area to succeed in another, it's not a level playing field.

令人擔憂的是，由於谷歌利用其在某一領域的優勢在另一領域取得成功，是以這並不是一個公平的競爭環境。

And that is really the core reason why we have seen these different lawsuits emerge over the last couple of years.

而這正是過去幾年中我們看到這些不同訴訟出現的核心原因。

The U.S. government is approaching year five of its sprawling investigation into Google.

美國政府對谷歌的大規模調查即將進入第五年。

I think it's quite possible that what we see come out of at least one of these cases is a breakup of Google.

我認為，我們看到的很有可能是谷歌的解體，至少是其中一個案例。

Many of the biggest firms in tech drew antitrust scrutiny in the late 2010s, but Google so far is the only company to end up in federal court.

2010 年代末，許多大型科技公司都受到了反壟斷審查，但迄今為止，谷歌是唯一一家最終被送上聯邦法庭的公司。

Will the U.S. government break up Google?

美國政府會解散谷歌嗎？

And if so, how will that impact investors and the public?

如果是這樣，會對投資者和公眾產生什麼影響？

The government's first major antitrust case against Google began in October 2020.

政府針對谷歌的第一起重大反壟斷案始於 2020 年 10 月。

It focused on Google Search.

它側重於谷歌搜索。

Search and advertising is Google's bread and butter.

搜索和廣告是谷歌的麵包和黃油。

It has its moonshot projects, but search and advertising pays for all of that.

它有自己的 "登月計劃"，但所有這些都是由搜索和廣告支付的。

People who use Google Search don't pay with money.

使用谷歌搜索的人不會用錢來支付。

Instead, Google makes money by collecting user data and selling ads.

相反，谷歌通過收集用戶數據和銷售廣告來賺錢。

When we use Google as a search engine, we expose ourselves to extensive surveillance.

當我們使用谷歌作為搜索引擎時，我們就暴露在廣泛的監控之下。

We enable Google to use information that Google derives from our queries for personalized advertising.

我們允許 Google 將從我們的查詢中獲取的資訊用於個性化廣告。

That's at least under the default settings.

至少在默認設置下是這樣。

The government's complaints focused on agreements Google made with companies like Apple.

政府投訴的重點是谷歌與蘋果等公司簽訂的協議。

What Google had done over the course of the past decade, decade and a half, is entered into these exclusive default agreements with other competitors, potential competitors like Apple.

在過去的十幾年中，谷歌所做的就是與其他競爭對手，如蘋果等潛在競爭對手簽訂這些獨家默認協議。

They entered into an agreement worth about $20 billion per year now that makes Google the exclusive search engine on all Apple devices in the Apple Safari browser.

現在，他們達成了一項每年價值約 200 億美元的協議，使谷歌成為所有蘋果設備上蘋果 Safari 瀏覽器的獨家搜索引擎。

They maintained those agreements with mobile device manufacturers.

他們與移動設備製造商保持著這些協議。

If you get a phone that's made by Samsung, it has an exclusive revenue share agreement with Google so that Google Search is the only search engine that appears on that cell phone when you start it up.

如果你買的手機是三星製造的，那麼它就與谷歌簽訂了獨家收入抽成協議，這樣當你啟動手機時，谷歌搜索就是手機上唯一出現的搜索引擎。

The regulators believe that Google is able to keep that dominance in part because of these sweetheart deals.

監管機構認為，谷歌之所以能保持這種主導地位，部分原因在於這些甜心交易。

For example, some Apple executives expressed interest in using the privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo as the default option while in private browsing mode.

例如，一些蘋果公司高管表示有興趣將注重隱私的搜索引擎 DuckDuckGo 作為私人瀏覽模式下的默認選項。

But the terms of their agreement with Google prevented that idea from taking root.

但他們與谷歌的協議條款阻礙了這一想法的生根發芽。

Google's made it very difficult to adopt DuckDuckGo.

谷歌讓採用 DuckDuckGo 變得非常困難。

Like on Android, it's 15 to 20 steps to make DuckDuckGo the search default there.

就像在 Android 上一樣，將 DuckDuckGo 設為默認搜索需要 15 到 20 個步驟。

Search engines are built with software that can crawl and rank websites on the internet.

搜索引擎是通過軟件建立的，可以對互聯網上的網站進行抓取和排名。

The process can cost billions of dollars if done at a scale to compete with Google.

如果達到與谷歌競爭的規模，這一過程可能耗資數十億美元。

Google controls about 88% of the search engine market in the United States.

谷歌控制著美國約 88% 的搜索引擎市場。

Nobody can enter this market and credibly compete with Google.

沒有人能夠進入這個市場，與谷歌進行可靠的競爭。

The Google Search trial included depositions from high-profile witnesses like Microsoft chief executive Sadia Nadella.

谷歌搜索案的審判包括微軟首席執行官薩迪婭-納德拉等知名證人的證詞。

The presiding federal judge, Amit Mehta, determined that Google, quote, is a monopolist and has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.

主審聯邦法官阿米特-梅塔（Amit Mehta）認定，谷歌是一個壟斷者，並以壟斷者的身份維持其壟斷地位。

Throughout that trial, we were hearing so many people talk about how Google Search has gotten so much worse over the past decade.

在整個試驗過程中，我們聽到很多人都在談論谷歌搜索在過去十年裡是如何變得越來越糟糕的。

Google does not, when it comes to local search, show the information it determines is the best.

在在地搜索方面，谷歌不會顯示它認為最好的資訊。

It simply self-preferences its own inferior content above everyone else.

它只是自我推崇自己的劣質內容，凌駕於其他人之上。

The government's second major complaint began in 2023 with a focus on online ad technology.

政府的第二次重大投訴始於 2023 年，重點關注在線廣告技術。

Back almost 20 years now, Google had acquired businesses like DoubleClick to consolidate the entire ad tech ecosystem.

早在近 20 年前，谷歌就收購了 DoubleClick 等企業，以整合整個廣告技術生態系統。

If you're a website, you plug into a publisher ad server.

如果你是一個網站，你可以接入一個出版商廣告服務器。

If you're an advertiser, you plug into an ad network on the other side, and then you meet on this exchange in the middle.

如果你是一個廣告商，你要接入另一方的廣告網絡，然後你們在中間的交換中心見面。

And because Google has maintained, allegedly, a monopoly across each of those properties, it is able to take 20 cents of every dollar that passes through its advertiser exchange.

據稱，由於谷歌在上述每個屬性上都保持著壟斷地位，是以它可以從通過其廣告商交換中心的每一美元中抽取 20 美分。

And that is far higher than any other ad exchange on the market because Google really is kind of unavoidable here.

而這一數字遠遠高於市場上的其他廣告交易平臺，因為谷歌在這裡確實是一種無法迴避的存在。

The trial on Google's monopoly power in digital ads began in September 2024 and is slated to run well into 2025.

對谷歌數字廣告壟斷權的審判始於 2024 年 9 月，預計將持續到 2025 年。

Google is also facing antitrust complaints from other businesses.

谷歌還面臨著來自其他企業的反壟斷投訴。

A notable challenge came from Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite.

一個值得注意的挑戰來自《堡壘之夜》的製作商 Epic Games。

The problem, Epic claims, is Google was charging a 30% fee on products within apps in its app store.

Epic 聲稱，問題在於谷歌對其應用商店中的應用產品收取 30% 的費用。

They were feeling unfairly restricted from accessing consumers directly.

他們在直接接觸消費者方面受到了不公平的限制。

Google had gone through many steps to make sure that Epic and other potential app stores were not able to load their own app stores on an Android device.

谷歌採取了許多措施，確保 Epic 和其他潛在應用商店無法在安卓設備上加載自己的應用商店。

And the case at its core said that if there was actually competition here, you'd see that 30% fee come down significantly.

該案例的核心內容是，如果這裡真的存在競爭，你就會看到 30% 的費用大幅下降。

And those savings would probably be passed through to consumers as well.

這些節省下來的費用很可能也會轉嫁給消費者。

Attorneys general representing all 50 states also raised this issue with Google in 2021.

代表美國 50 個州的總檢察長也在 2021 年向谷歌提出了這一問題。

But Google settled this case with them in 2023.

但谷歌在 2023 年與他們達成了和解。

Epic Games also filed a similar complaint against Apple and its app store.

Epic Games 也對蘋果公司及其應用商店提出了類似的投訴。

I would have Apple and Google both done.

我會讓蘋果和谷歌都完成。

They have said, we want to make money.

他們說，我們要賺錢。

We want to charge tolls for anyone who wants to cross that bridge to the consumers.

我們希望向任何想過橋的消費者收取通行費。

A jury delivered a verdict favoring Epic over Google in 2023.

2023 年，陪審團做出了有利於 Epic 而非谷歌的判決。

But the company sued again in 2024, claiming that Google continues to use anti-competitive agreements to protect its monopoly power.

但該公司於 2024 年再次提起訴訟，聲稱谷歌繼續利用反競爭協議來保護其壟斷地位。

Some of those walled gardens, if they haven't entirely come down, have at least come down a little bit in terms of the Apple ecosystem.

就蘋果生態系統而言，一些圍牆花園即使沒有完全倒塌，至少也倒塌了一些。

They've won some concessions.

他們贏得了一些讓步。

And that gives them more reason to go after Google and Apple here in the U.S.

這也讓他們有更多理由在美國對谷歌和蘋果窮追猛打。

The courts are now determining the best way to restore competition in online industries.

法院目前正在確定恢復在線行業競爭的最佳方式。

Lawyers refer to these solutions as remedies.

律師將這些解決方案稱為補救措施。

Weak remedies would include injunctions that are targeted at specific behaviors that have been identified to be anti-competitive.

較弱的補救措施包括針對被認定為反競爭的具體行為的禁令。

For example, the judge in Epic Games v.

例如，法官在 Epic Games v.

Google is banning Google from a range of conduct for three years.

谷歌將在三年內禁止谷歌的一系列行為。

Notably, Google has to let developers charge in-app fees without using Google's billing system, removing the company's ability to levy tolls on its partners and users.

值得注意的是，谷歌必須允許開發者在不使用谷歌計費系統的情況下收取應用內費用，從而消除公司向合作伙伴和用戶徵收費用的能力。

If you move even further into the direction of stricter, more effective remedies, you could, of course, think of structural remedies.

如果你更進一步，朝著更嚴格、更有效的補救措施的方向發展，你當然可以考慮結構性補救措施。

Structural remedies include namely breakups.

結構性補救措施包括即分手。

The government is leaving the possibility of a Google breakup open, according to court documents filed in October.

根據 10 月份提交的法庭文件，政府對谷歌解體的可能性持開放態度。

One of the remedies that we're talking about is what it would mean for Google to divest Android.

我們正在討論的補救措施之一是，谷歌剝離安卓系統意味著什麼。

It maintains that separate brand and potential to be independently monetized that could justify separating it from Google and making it a standalone business.

它保持著獨立的品牌和獨立盈利的潛力，這也是將其從谷歌分離出來並使其成為獨立業務的理由。

So the most likely scenario is that they break out their ad network.

是以，最有可能的情況是，他們打破了自己的廣告網絡。

It's their ugly piece of business.

這是他們的醜陋生意。

It's about 11 percent of revenue.

約佔收入的 11%。

This has been long rumored by regulators to get broken out.

長期以來，監管機構一直在謠傳這一點會被打破。

But a breakup could be far-fetched.

但分手可能太牽強。

So I don't think that a breakup is likely, and the market seems to think that way as well.

是以，我認為分手的可能性不大，市場似乎也是這麼認為的。

In practice, that would be really, really hard to do because Google is an ecosystem.

實際上，這真的很難做到，因為谷歌是一個生態系統。

All of these things are so closely integrated.

所有這些都是如此緊密地結合在一起。

Even if you broke it up, the different business units would make deals to keep some of that integration.

即使將其拆分，不同的業務部門也會達成交易，以保持部分整合。

So I think that's really difficult in practice.

是以，我認為這在實踐中確實很難做到。

It's also the most extreme remedy.

這也是最極端的補救辦法。

Google is expected to appeal the cases, but the company did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.

預計谷歌將對這些案件提起上訴，但該公司沒有迴應 CNBC 的置評請求。

The Google team wrote in a blog post that its ad tech fees are lower than the reported industry averages.

谷歌團隊在一篇博文中寫道，其廣告技術費用低於所報道的行業平均水平。

The company also wrote that the government's ad tech case could create challenges for small businesses. 69 percent of them use digital ads to find customers.

該公司還寫道，政府的廣告技術案可能會給小企業帶來挑戰。69%的小企業使用數字廣告來尋找客戶。

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin invented the Google search engine in the late 1990s.

谷歌創始人拉里-佩奇和謝爾蓋-布林在 20 世紀 90 年代末發明了谷歌搜索引擎。

Their project rose to prominence as Microsoft battled its own antitrust lawsuits in federal court.

當微軟在聯邦法院與自己的反壟斷訴訟作鬥爭時，他們的項目嶄露頭角。

So you go back to the Microsoft example of the late 90s, the early 2000s.

是以，你可以回到上世紀 90 年代末、21 世紀初微軟公司的例子。

Microsoft ultimately won that legal battle.

微軟最終贏得了這場官司。

If it didn't, it would have been appealed for years and years.

如果不這樣做，上訴就會年復一年。

But it missed sort of this huge innovation wave.

但它錯過了這股巨大的創新浪潮。

A lot of that had to do with all of its antitrust and legal battles.

這在很大程度上與反壟斷和法律訴訟有關。

But there wasn't a breakup of Microsoft.

但微軟並沒有解體。

There was enough of a conduct remedy and a separation of the operating system and the browser to allow for inroads to be made by companies that we now are calling the new illegal monopolies.

有了足夠的行為補救措施，以及作業系統和瀏覽器的分離，我們現在稱之為新的非法壟斷的公司才有可能取得進展。

I mean, this is how Google was able to innovate in its infancy.

我的意思是，這就是谷歌在初創時期的創新之道。

This is why all of this antitrust stuff matters.

這就是為什麼反壟斷問題如此重要。

Because if Google is so distracted by these lawsuits, the fear is that it falls behind in this very important race going on right now, where the winners are still being decided.

因為如果谷歌因為這些訴訟而分心，恐怕就會在這場非常重要的比賽中落後，而這場比賽的勝負還未定。

Regulating tech is a bipartisan priority.

監管科技是兩黨的當務之急。

But some members of Congress disagree with the government's approach.

但一些國會議員不同意政府的做法。

There's no proof that Google is charging outrageous sums and charging above and controlling the market.

沒有證據表明，谷歌的收費高得離譜，收費高於並控制了市場。

They just say they have a lot of the market share.

他們只是說自己佔據了很大的市場份額。

This has been the problem with antitrust policy going back to standard oil.

從標準石油開始，反壟斷政策就一直存在這個問題。

You know, our foundational antitrust laws were designed at the end of the 19th century, where the monopolies that we were trying to confront back then were railroad barons and steel manufacturers.

要知道，我們的基本反壟斷法是在 19 世紀末制定的，當時我們試圖對抗的壟斷企業是鐵路大亨和鋼鐵製造商。

It is incredible to me that these foundational tools, these antitrust laws are equally applied to new markets and new and emerging markets.

令我難以置信的是，這些基礎工具、這些反壟斷法同樣適用於新市場和新興市場。

What we're starting to see here is a breadth of enforcement, not just against Google.

我們開始看到的是執法的廣泛性，而不僅僅是針對谷歌。

We now have major antitrust cases pending against Apple, against Amazon, against Meta, against Live Nation Ticketmaster.

目前，針對蘋果、亞馬遜、Meta、Live Nation Ticketmaster 的重大反壟斷案件正在審理中。

Some analysts believe that a breakup, though far-fetched, could possibly be good for the stock.

一些分析師認為，雖然分手很牽強，但可能對股票有利。

I think the sum of the parts do unlock value here.

我認為，各部分的總和確實能釋放出價值。

Google has acquired over 200 firms in its nearly three-decade-long existence.

谷歌成立近三十年來，已收購了 200 多家公司。

Prominent examples include Android, YouTube, Waze, machine learning pioneer DeepMind, and startup firms that produced services like Google Maps and Docs.

突出的例子包括 Android、YouTube、Waze、機器學習先驅 DeepMind，以及提供谷歌地圖和文檔等服務的初創公司。

That said, Google is in a fierce competition to stay relevant as new technologies like cloud computing and artificial intelligence take hold.

儘管如此，隨著雲計算和人工智能等新技術的興起，谷歌仍面臨著激烈的競爭。

Google is the number three player in cloud, and cloud is really important in that it's the infrastructure, the backend for generative AI.

谷歌在雲計算領域排名第三，雲計算非常重要，因為它是生成式人工智能的基礎設施和後臺。

But there's sort of a new race going on, too.

但也有一種新的競賽正在進行。

Google is very smart in that it's developing its own chips called TPUs that can handle some of the compute power.

谷歌非常聰明，它正在開發自己的芯片，稱為 TPU，可以處理部分計算能力。

They still need NVIDIA, they still need GPUs, but they're creating their own technology to enable them to perhaps rely less on an NVIDIA.

他們仍然需要英偉達™（NVIDIA®），仍然需要 GPU，但他們正在創造自己的技術，使他們能夠減少對英偉達™（NVIDIA®）的依賴。

Amazon's doing a similar thing, so is Microsoft.

亞馬遜和微軟也在做類似的事情。

Very few companies have the resources to compete for key inputs that drive the production of artificial intelligence tools.

只有極少數公司擁有足夠的資源來競爭推動人工智能工具生產的關鍵投入。

We might run into a situation where the current gatekeepers, the current monopolies, manage to capture that emerging sector simply by extending their power.

我們可能會遇到這樣一種情況：目前的守門人，目前的壟斷企業，僅僅通過擴大自己的權力，就設法佔領了這一新興領域。

They have enormous access to data obtained through their monopoly over the general search engine market.

他們通過對普通搜索引擎市場的壟斷，可以獲得大量數據。

But the worry is that Google moves a little more slowly than, say, an open AI, which adopts more that old Silicon Valley philosophy of move fast and break things.

但令人擔憂的是，與開放式人工智能相比，谷歌的行動要慢一些，後者更多采用的是硅谷的老哲學--快速行動，打破常規。

Since ChatGBT arrived and sort of stole that generative AI mainstream moment, you are seeing Google move faster.

自從 ChatGBT 誕生並搶佔了生成式人工智能的主流地位後，谷歌的步伐越來越快。

At the same time, Google has the most to lose.

與此同時，谷歌的損失也最大。

Can Google shift its whole business of search into chatbots with the same success and the same dominance that it's enjoyed over the last few decades?

谷歌能否像過去幾十年一樣，成功地將整個搜索業務轉向哈拉機器人，並取得同樣的主導地位？

The coming years could be important for regulators.

未來幾年對監管機構來說可能非常重要。

The fact of the matter is competition often matters most when there are new inflection points that emerge in the market.

事實上，當市場出現新的拐點時，競爭往往是最重要的。

Right now is perhaps the most critical inflection point we've seen in the search market in 15 years.

現在也許是我們 15 年來看到的搜索市場最關鍵的拐點。

The digital economy in the U.S. has, by and large, remained just unregulated.

美國的數字經濟總體上仍處於無管制狀態。

Antitrust law is kind of the only thing that's happening at all.

反壟斷法是目前唯一正在實施的法律。

The government's battle with big tech companies started while former President Trump was in office.

政府與大型科技公司的鬥爭始於前總統特朗普在任期間。

If he were to take office again, the cases are likely to move forward.

如果他再次上任，這些案件很可能會繼續推進。

Democrats are looking for sharper antitrust enforcement, too.

民主黨人也在尋求更嚴厲的反壟斷執法。

Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly has a close personal relationship with Google's lead counsel in the case.

據報道，美國副總統卡馬拉-哈里斯（Kamala Harris）與谷歌在此案中的首席律師有著密切的私人關係。

But she is expected to let the antitrust process run its course.

但預計她會讓反壟斷程序按部就班地進行。

This could take years because even when we get a decision, Google has already said that they're going to appeal.

這可能需要好幾年的時間，因為即使我們做出了決定，谷歌也已經表示他們會上訴。

There's so many resources that they have to pour into fighting this avalanche of legal battles.

他們必須投入大量的資源來打這場雪崩式的法律戰。

And I go back to the Microsoft example from the late 90s, early 2000s.

我又回到了上世紀 90 年代末、21 世紀初微軟公司的例子。

That can sort of erode innovation at the edges for many, many years.

這可能會在很多很多年裡侵蝕邊緣創新。

We really need to kind of put our faith in the fact that breaking up monopolies is critical to making sure that that innovation benefits consumers.

我們真的需要相信，打破壟斷對於確保創新惠及消費者至關重要。

American people, working families can benefit from that innovation.

美國人民、工薪家庭都能從這種創新中受益。

That's really what this antitrust project holds.

這就是反托拉斯項目的真正意義所在。