谷歌反垄断的误解(上)

In search of a problem

寻找问题

The current era of trustbuster activism is based on a misapprehension.

当今时代的反垄断激进主义是基于一种误解。

In 1912 America’s Supreme Court ruled that a coalition of 14 railroad proprietors had used their joint ownership of a bridge across the Mississippi river, near the St Louis terminal, to unlawfully stifle competition.

1912年，美国最高法院裁定，一个由14名铁路业主组成的联盟利用他们对圣路易斯终点站附近一座横跨密西西比河大桥的共同拥有权，非法扼杀了竞争。

The crossing gave the railroad trust a chokehold over traffic to and from the city’s main terminal.

这条通道让这一铁路托拉斯扼住了往返圣路易斯市主要终点站的交通咽喉要道。

St Louis was an important railway hub.

而圣路易斯是一个重要的铁路枢纽。

In the court’s opinion, the monopoly power over the railway bridge was therefore a means to foreclose the business of rival rail operators across America.

因此，法院认为，对铁路桥的垄断是一种手段，用以阻止美国各地的竞争对手开展铁路运营业务。

More than a century later, American trustbusters are preparing for battle with another giant in a network industry.

一个多世纪后，美国的反托拉斯者正准备与网络行业的另一个巨头展开战斗。

In January the Department of Justice (DOJ) set out a 155-page complaint against Google for monopolising digital advertising on exchanges.

今年1月，美国司法部对谷歌提起了长达155页的申诉，认为其垄断了数字广告交易。

It alleges that Google used strong-arm tactics to lock up the ad-tech business.

司法部声称，谷歌使用了强硬策略来锁定广告技术业务。

The case is billed as the biggest antitrust challenge to tech since the DOJ’s epic battle with Microsoft in the late 1990s.

此案被标榜为自上世纪90年代末美国司法部与微软展开史诗般的斗争以来，科技行业面临的最大的反垄断挑战。

Central to the case is the acquisition by Google in 2008 of DoubleClick, which had developed a lead in the marketing of digital-advertising space.

此案的核心是谷歌在2008年收购了DoubleClick，后者在数字广告位的营销方面占据领先地位。

It has become almost an article of faith among regulators that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should have blocked the merger.

联邦贸易委员会本该阻止这项合并，这几乎已经成为监管机构的一个信条。

As if to compensate for this laxity, trustbusters have recently sought to block many tech mergers, including Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard, a video-game maker.

似乎是为了弥补这种松懈，反托拉斯机构最近试图阻止许多科技公司并购，包括微软收购视频游戏开发商动视暴雪。

The DOJ is seeking to break up Google’s ad-tech business—in effect, undoing the DoubleClick merger.

美国司法部正在试图拆分谷歌的广告技术业务——实际上是将合并后的DoubleClick拆出去。

It is far from clear, however, that allowing this merger was actually a mistake.

然而，允许这一合并是否是一个错误，目前还远不清楚。

To understand why, start with a stylised view of Google’s ad-tech “stack”.

要了解其中原因，先以非写实的方式来看看谷歌的广告技术“堆栈”吧。

The middle layer is Google’s Ad Exchange, which matches buyers and sellers of advertising space (or “inventory”).

中间层是谷歌的广告交易平台，它为广告位(或“库存”)的买家和卖家牵线搭桥。

On one side of the market are website publishers who want to sell ad space.

市场的一方是想要出售广告位的网站出版商。

They submit sales requests via a digital tool.

他们通过数字工具提交售卖请求。

The antecedent of Google’s sell-side software is DoubleClick for Publishers, acquired in the merger.

谷歌卖方软件的前身是在合并中收购的DoubleClick for Publishers。

On the other side of the exchange are ad buyers, who have two routes to the market.

在交易平台的另一边是广告买家，他们有两条通往市场的途径。

Agencies and large ad buyers use demand-side platforms to bid for inventory.

代理商和大型广告买家使用需求方平台竞标库存。

Smaller advertisers go directly to Ad Exchange.

小型广告商则直接前往广告交易平台。

Google’s share of traffic varies between 40% and over 90%, depending on the stage of the journey.

在交易的不同阶段，谷歌的流量份额在40%到90%以上不等。

Bids and offers are matched by complex algorithms in the instant between a click on a website and a display ad appearing.

在点击网站和显示广告的瞬间，出价和提供的库存就通过复杂的算法进行了匹配。

In a case such as this, the best initial question is a straightforward one: where is the choke point?

在这种情况下，首先最该提出的问题是一个直截了当的问题：咽喉要道在哪里？

Microsoft was accused of tying Windows, the dominant operating system for desktop computers, to Internet Explorer in a manner that sought to exclude Netscape and others from the market for web browsers.

微软曾被指控将占主导地位的台式电脑操作系统Windows与IE浏览器进行捆绑，试图将网景等其他浏览器排除在网页浏览器市场之外。

Windows was the choke point, just as the bridge to St Louis was in the railroad case.

Windows系统就是咽喉要道，就像铁路案例中通往圣路易斯的大桥一样。

The charge against Google is more complex, or at least the story is one that is harder to tell.

对谷歌的指控则要复杂得多，或者说，至少这个故事更不容易讲清楚。