经济学人126:谷歌的敌人

 　　Regulating the internet

　　监管互联网

　　Google's enemies

　　谷歌的敌人

　　The search giant’s antitrust headache gets bigger

　　搜索巨头的反垄断之困日渐增大

　　Jun 30th 2011 | SAN FRANCISCO | from the print edition

　　SINCE the start of this year, Google’s share price has fallen steadily¹ as investors³ have begun to fret⁴ about its longer-term prospects⁵. Now they have another reason to worry. On June 24th the company revealed that America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had opened a broad investigation⁶ into its online-search and online-advertising⁷ businesses to see if it has abused its dominant⁸ position. Some pundits⁹ predict that the trustbusters’ tussle¹⁰ with Google could turn as bloody¹¹ as their battle with Microsoft in the 1990s.

　　自今年初以来，由于投资者开始对谷歌发展远景感到担忧，其股价稳步下跌。如今他们又有了新的担忧理由，该公司在6月24日透露，美国联邦贸易委员会为确定谷歌是否滥用了主导地位，对其在线搜索和在线广告业务展开了广泛调查。一些专家预测，联邦反托拉斯检察官与谷歌的角力可能会变得非常残酷，其激烈程度可能与1990年代对决微软不相上下。

　　The regulators’ move comes at an awkward time for Google, which faces a growing threat from Facebook, the world’s biggest social network. Facebook aims to supplant¹² Google as the main conduit via which people access the web. On June 28th Google hit back, unveiling Google+, a social-network platform to rival Facebook.

　　世界最大的社交网络Facebook意欲取代谷歌成为人们上网的主要媒介，对谷歌的威胁与日俱增，可是恰在此时监管者又对谷歌展开了行动。在6月28日，谷歌还以颜色，发布了社交网路平台Google+，以与Facebook一争高下。

　　Google’s new offering, which is still in trial form, boasts some handy features. It makes it easy to set up separate groups, thus sparing your boss from seeing your semi-clothed and inebriated¹³ party snaps. It also lets up to ten people hold a video chat together. But this will probably not be enough to get people to abandon Facebook, which benefits from a powerful network effect: people join it because most of their friends already have.

　　谷歌的新产品（仍处在测试阶段）具有一些方便的功能。它让创建不同的群变得容易，因此

　　不会让你的老板看到你的半裸和醉态熏熏的派对快照，同时它最多还能容纳十个人在一起视频聊天。但Facebook从强大的网络效应受益良多，这可能也不足以让人们割舍它：人们加入Facebook是因为他们大多数的朋友已经加入。

　　Still, Google’s determination to keep innovating¹⁴ has served it well in its core business of search, where it commands nearly two-thirds of the market in America and an even higher share elsewhere (see chart). It is this dominance that has attracted regulators’ attention in America and abroad. Last November the European Commission announced a similarly sweeping¹⁵ review of Google’s operations.

　　然而，谷歌不断创新的决心对其核心搜索业务帮助很大，在这项业务上谷歌几乎占据美国市场的三分之二，而在其他地区甚至拥有更高份额（见图表）。正是这种优势地位吸引了美国和海外监管者的注意。去年十一月，欧盟委员会宣布对谷歌的业务展开类似的全面调查。

　　Another reason that Google is attracting more attention is that it keeps expanding into new areas. In Silicon¹⁶ Valley, one of the first questions a potential investor² asks a start-up is: “What would you do if Google moved into your space?” Some of Google’s new ventures have been controversial. For instance, regulators recently gave the company a green light (with conditions attached) to acquire ITA Software, which provides online flight information. Several other travel companies opposed the deal, howling that it would limit competition. Google’s critics say that because it has its fingers in so many pies, from online video to location-based services, it must surely be tempted¹⁷ to give some of its own businesses an artificial boost in its rankings.

　　谷歌吸引更多注意的另一个原因是它不断向新领域扩张。在硅谷，潜在投资者询问新创办公司的首要问题是：“如果谷歌进入你们的业务领域，你们会怎么做？”谷歌的一些新投资项目充满争议，比如监管者近来对该公司收购在线航班信息公司ITA Software的交易大开绿灯，其他一些旅游公司对这项交易表示强烈反对，他们咆哮说，这将限制竞争。谷歌的批评家表示，因为谷歌染指了从在线视频到位置服务（location-based service）的众多领域，它必定非常想人为推高自己业务的排名。

　　Google acknowledges that it makes hundreds of tweaks a year to the algorithms that determine the search results it serves up. But it insists that its aim is to improve users’ experience by, for example, blocking spam and thwarting¹⁸ firms that try to game its system. It also likes to point out that its rivals, including Yahoo! and Microsoft’s Bing search engine, are merely a click away. Rivals retort that only Google’s name has become a verb, and that this reflects its vice-like grip on the market. (The other possibility is that Google’s search engine is more popular because it is better.)

　　谷歌承认每年会对决定搜索结果的算法进行数百项修改，但坚称其目标是通过诸如阻止垃圾信息和对利用其系统进行作弊的公司进行阻扰的方式来提高用户体验。谷歌也乐于指出，其竞争对手——包括雅虎和微软的必应搜索引擎与它仅有咫尺之遥。竞争对手则反驳说，只有谷歌的名字成为一个动词，这一点就反映出谷歌对市场牢固的控制力。（另一个可能性是谷歌的搜索引擎更好，所以更加流行）。

　　Google is not invincible¹⁹. Bing has been slowly increasing its share of American searches and is working with Facebook on integrating social-networking data into its results in a bid to improve them. (This is another reason why Google wants its own source of social data.) People are also being offered more and more digital information via other sources, including specialised search engines and software applications on smartphones.

　　谷歌并非不可战胜。必应在美国搜索市场的份额一直在缓慢地增长，而且它目前正与Facebook共同努力将社交网络数据整合到必应搜索结果中，以提高它们的地位。（这是谷歌希求自己的社交数据来源的另一个原因）。人们也正在通过其他来源得到越来越多的数字信息，包括专门化的搜索引擎和智能手机上的软件应用程序。

　　When it comes to web advertising, it is equally hard to see how any charges of monopolistic abuse against Google can be made to stick. There is no shortage of sites and ad networks unconnected to Google that are ready to take advertisers’ dollars. And the cost of switching from Google to a rival is very low.

　　对于网络广告来说，针对谷歌垄断滥用（monopolistic abuse）的任何指控同样难以成立。不少与谷歌没有干系的网站和网络做好了赚取广告费的准备，而且从谷歌转投到其竞争对手旗下的成本非常低。

　　None of this guarantees that Google will escape unscathed from the investigation. Eric Goldman of Santa Clara University reckons that the FTC’s watchdogs could raise questions about Google’s habit of occasionally bidding in its own ad auctions²⁰ to promote “house” ads for its businesses. Google insists that it has always been transparent²¹ about this practice.

　　这些都不能保证谷歌能够安然逃脱调查。圣塔克拉拉大学（Santa Clara University）的埃里克?高曼估计，美国联邦贸易委员会的监管人员可能对谷歌偶尔参与自己组织的拍卖活动，为自身业务需要推销自家广告（House Ad）的行为进行盘问。谷歌坚称对此业务一直保持透明。

　　Another reason that Google is attracting more attention is that it keeps expanding into new areas. In Silicon Valley, one of the first questions a potential investor asks a start-up is: “What would you do if Google moved into your space?” Some of Google’s new ventures have been controversial. For instance, regulators recently gave the company a green light (with conditions attached) to acquire ITA Software, which provides online flight information. Several other travel companies opposed the deal, howling that it would limit competition. Google’s critics say that because it has its fingers in so many pies, from online video to location-based services, it must surely be tempted to give some of its own businesses an artificial boost in its rankings.

　　谷歌吸引更多注意的另一个原因是它不断向新领域扩张。在硅谷，潜在投资者询问新创办公司的首要问题是：“如果谷歌进入你们的业务领域，你们会怎么做？”谷歌的一些新投资项目充满争议，比如监管者近来对该公司收购在线航班信息公司ITA Software的交易大开绿灯，其他一些旅游公司对这项交易表示强烈反对，他们咆哮说，这将限制竞争。谷歌的批评家表示，因为谷歌染指了从在线视频到位置服务（location-based service）的众多领域，它必定非常想人为推高自己业务的排名。

　　Google acknowledges that it makes hundreds of tweaks a year to the algorithms that determine the search results it serves up. But it insists that its aim is to improve users’ experience by, for example, blocking spam and thwarting firms that try to game its system. It also likes to point out that its rivals, including Yahoo! and Microsoft’s Bing search engine, are merely a click away. Rivals retort that only Google’s name has become a verb, and that this reflects its vice-like grip on the market. (The other possibility is that Google’s search engine is more popular because it is better.)

　　谷歌承认每年会对决定搜索结果的算法进行数百项修改，但坚称其目标是通过诸如阻止垃圾信息和对利用其系统进行作弊的公司进行阻扰的方式来提高用户体验。谷歌也乐于指出，其竞争对手——包括雅虎和微软的必应搜索引擎与它仅有咫尺之遥。竞争对手则反驳说，只有谷歌的名字成为一个动词，这一点就反映出谷歌对市场牢固的控制力。（另一个可能性是谷歌的搜索引擎更好，所以更加流行）。

　　Google is not invincible. Bing has been slowly increasing its share of American searches and is working with Facebook on integrating social-networking data into its results in a bid to improve them. (This is another reason why Google wants its own source of social data.) People are also being offered more and more digital information via other sources, including specialised search engines and software applications on smartphones.

　　谷歌并非不可战胜。必应在美国搜索市场的份额一直在缓慢地增长，而且它目前正与Facebook共同努力将社交网络数据整合到必应搜索结果中，以提高它们的地位。（这是谷歌希求自己的社交数据来源的另一个原因）。人们也正在通过其他来源得到越来越多的数字信息，包括专门化的搜索引擎和智能手机上的软件应用程序。

　　When it comes to web advertising, it is equally hard to see how any charges of monopolistic abuse against Google can be made to stick. There is no shortage of sites and ad networks unconnected to Google that are ready to take advertisers’ dollars. And the cost of switching from Google to a rival is very low.

　　对于网络广告来说，针对谷歌垄断滥用（monopolistic abuse）的任何指控同样难以成立。不少与谷歌没有干系的网站和网络做好了赚取广告费的准备，而且从谷歌转投到其竞争对手旗下的成本非常低。

　　None of this guarantees that Google will escape unscathed from the investigation. Eric Goldman of Santa Clara University reckons that the FTC’s watchdogs could raise questions about Google’s habit of occasionally bidding in its own ad auctions to promote “house” ads for its businesses. Google insists that it has always been transparent about this practice.

　　这些都不能保证谷歌能够安然逃脱调查。圣塔克拉拉大学（Santa Clara University）的埃里克?高曼估计，美国联邦贸易委员会的监管人员可能对谷歌偶尔参与自己组织的拍卖活动，为自身业务需要推销自家广告（House Ad）的行为进行盘问。谷歌坚称对此业务一直保持透明。

1 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

2 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

5 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

8 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

9 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

10 tussle   

n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩

参考例句：

• They began to tussle with each other for the handgun.他们互相扭打起来，抢夺那支手枪。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

11 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

12 supplant   

vt.排挤；取代

参考例句：

• Electric cars may one day supplant petrol-driven ones.也许有一天电动车会取代汽油驱动的车。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

13 inebriated   

adj.酒醉的

参考例句：

• He was inebriated by his phenomenal success. 他陶醉于他显赫的成功。 来自互联网
• Drunken driver(a driver who is inebriated). 喝醉了的司机（醉酒的司机） 来自互联网

14 innovating   

v.改革，创新( innovate的现在分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• In this new century, the company keeps innovating and developing new products. 新世纪伊始，公司全面实施形象工程及整合营销，不断改革创新，开发高新产品。 来自互联网
• Beijing is backward most prime cause is innovating at system lack. 北京落后的最根本原因在于制度缺乏创新。 来自互联网

15 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

16 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

17 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

18 thwarting   

阻挠( thwart的现在分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The republicans are trying to embarrass the president by thwarting his economic program. 共和党人企图通过阻挠总统的经济计划使其难堪。
• There were too many men resisting his authority thwarting him. 下边对他这个长官心怀不服的，故意作对的，可多着哩。

19 invincible   

adj.不可征服的，难以制服的

参考例句：

• This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
• The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。

20 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

21 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。