Is Google's Demise Around The Corner?

In Today’s (4th) Edition of “Element, by Arsh“ -

• Google was officially called a monopoly by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), but the company’s problems don’t end there…

• The story where I overthink about myself gaining weight, and it actually leads to something productive…

Google’s Problems Just Keep Piling Up! Will The Company Be Broken Up?

In the last 60-ish days, Google’s stock price has gone from $191/share to just around $158/share. That is over a 17% decline in a company that was once worth well over $2,000,000,000 ($2 Trillion). This decline can largely be attributed to the lawsuits (yes, multiple) the company is fighting against the US Department of Justice.

The first of the recent lawsuits was focused on Google’s search business. The DOJ says that Google has taken steps that were anti-competitive and the company made sure that it had major control in this search industry by paying to become the default search engine on virtually ALL Apple & Samsung devices.

The Department of Justice actually won this lawsuit and called Google a “monopoly“ after they won. According to the DOJ, a “monopoly“ is generally when “a single company or entity creates an unreasonable restraint of competition in a market“. There is a short article by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) explaining what monopolization means to them. You can find that article here.

After losing this case, some Google investors thought that the worst was behind them. However, this optimism was short-lived because soon after the ruling from the first case came out, Google was accused of being a monopoly again. This time it was regarding their advertisement business (Google Ads).

Right now, Google is fighting a case against them that says the company has engaged in anti-competitive behavior in their ads business and that they have made the system such that advertisers face problems leaving the system. Google argues that advertisers choose to use Google Ads because it is the best one available, and there are other ad networks too, like Meta or Amazon. Therefore, Google does NOT have a monopoly in digital advertisements. Do you think the judge will buy this version?

I Feel Fat…

That might not be the most politically correct word to use, but I am talking about myself, so maybe I’ll get a pass. I also understand that people don’t wanna hear a random person on the internet talking about his extra pounds of fat, so I’ll understand if you don’t read this section :)

But, it’s true. For almost a year, I’ve been gaining weight because of primarily stress eating and zero exercise. While I knew that I was gaining some pounds, I never actually felt fat! Honestly, I find that feeling to be way worse than stress eating and no exercise! You are probably thinking, “If Arsh feels so bad about this, he should do something about it”, and you are absolutely right. Trust me, I’ve telling myself that for some time now, but every time I decide to do something about it, something new comes in and apparently requires my undivided attention. How? Why?

I don’t think this new thing just comes up at the exact time when I trying to set out on a path that I know will be extremely challenging. I think this is just my body and mind’s way of saying, “We understand that this action will be great for your body in the long term, but do you really want to go through all of this pain for it?” Unfortunately, my brain is fickle enough that it always answers “No. Are you crazy?” to this question. It’s a pathetic trait, and it has held me back so many times that I can’t even count.

I think it was Napoleon who said, “One who can control their mind, can control the world” or something similar. Eighteen years on this planet and I can’t take control of my mind! That has to change!

One of my friends’ WhatsApp text status says, “Do What’s Right Not Easy”, and I have always considered this as one of those generic quotes that people put in their Instagram bios or WhatsApp text status, but that phrase cannot be more relevant to my life right now. That’s why, next time my brain and me not do something difficult that I know will be worthwhile in the long term, I’ll be doing my very best to go against my brain (that wants comfort) and do it. Hopefully, in the process, I can take back control of my mind, and then complete world domination by Arsh is not too far in the future 😅