News Corp has called for Google to break up. Good call. Here’s one way to break up Google:
- Make Gmail an installable web app and allow full export of email, calendar, and contacts, using self-hosting and allowing the @gmail.com address to continue on self-hosted, “federated” cloud.
- Sell Google Ads entirely and to two separate companies, allowing both new owners to pay Google for user/meta information on a royalty/subscription -like basis.
- Split off YouTube into its own, separate entity, but allow continued optional integration with the same Google services—or with other services such at Yahoo.
This would be an opportunity for Yahoo to make a comeback. We do need balance in the market and no monopoly is good.
Will it happen? Probably not. Google’s belligerence has probably destined it to become a utility. But, it sure was a nice dream while it lasted.