There's all sorts of anecdotal evidence that google searches have gotten steadily worse, and google has stopped supporting parts of its search "API" that mitigated this. So they've been the market leader but haven't continued to improve search in any noticeable way.
Sure, other search engines can theoretically compete, but it is an enormous mountain to get enough data to be competitive... and just being "as good" is not enough to get people to switch. So without regulation, google is going to exploit a captive market.
Sure, other search engines can theoretically compete, but it is an enormous mountain to get enough data to be competitive... and just being "as good" is not enough to get people to switch. So without regulation, google is going to exploit a captive market.