经济学人下载:欧盟VS谷歌:并不如意(3)

If Google were to degrade its search results by demoting links to better services, users would just switch to a rival service, such as Bing or DuckDuckGo.
如果谷歌能够通过降低到更好服务的链接来压榨自己的搜索质量，用户将会切换到竞争对手的服务去，如Bing或者DuckDuckGo。

But as digital platforms have grown ever bigger, that thinking has started to change, even in America.
但即使是在美国随着数字平台越来越大，这种想法已经开始改变。

A growing number of antitrust experts now accept the commission's view, that network effects create high barriers to entry in online markets.
如今，越来越多的反垄断专家认同委员会的观点即网络效应给在线市场设置了高准入门槛。

This means that Google, for instance, can in fact degrade its search results selectively (and disadvantageously to its direct competitors) without having to fear that its users will defect, says Maurice Stucke of the University of Tennessee.
田纳西大学的莫里斯·斯托克认为，这意味着谷歌事实上可以选择性地降低其搜索结果质量使其不利于直接竞争对手而不必担心其用户会流失。

“We need these super-platforms to adhere to a principle of neutrality,” he says.
他说：“我们需要这些超级平台坚持中立原则。”

How can such a principle be enforced?
那么，该如何实施莫里斯·斯托克所倡导的原则呢？

In the case at hand Google could just feed all search queries through one algorithm and do away with the second one that produces the Google Shopping results.
就目前情况来看，谷歌可以通过一个算法程序来运算处理所有的搜索请求，并且去掉与谷歌购物搜索结果一致的答案。

But what if this one algorithm still ends up putting Google's links on top?
但是如果这样的算法最终还是把谷歌搜索链接放在上面呢？

Will the commission then force the firm to reveal its inner workings and even rewrite it?
委员会是否会迫使该公司披露其内部运作甚至重新编写算法？

If search algorithms become more personalised, as is expected to be the case with digital assistants such as Amazon's Alexa, it will be even more difficult to detect bias.
如果这款搜索算法变得更加人性化了。诸如提供像亚马逊Alexa一样的数字助理搜索，偏见将会更难检测出来。