Concern about the clout of the internet giants is growing. But antitrust watchdogs should tread carefully
THE four giants of the internet age—Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon—are
extraordinary creatures. Never before has the world seen firms grow so fast or
spread their tentacles so widely. Apple has become a colossus of capitalism,
accounting for 4.3% of the value of the S&P 500 and 1.1% of the global
equity market. Some 425m people now use its iTunes online store, whose virtual
shelves are packed to the gills with music and other digital content. Google,
meanwhile, is the undisputed global leader in search and online advertising. Its
Android software powers three-quarters of the smartphones being shipped. Amazon
dominates the online-retail and e-book markets in many countries; less well
known is its behind-the-scenes power in cloud computing. As for Facebook, if the
social network’s one billion users were a country, it would be the world’s third
largest.
