avirut

In that case, shouldn't recessions instantly resolve themselves? When the price in stocks goes down significantly there's pretty much a guarantee that it'll come back up eventually, so wouldn't any prudent investor buy the dip?

As the parent comment said, the only explanation that really adds up would be that the amount of "available money" in the economy must be going down as a result of defaults on credit.

But as a consumer it's very nice to have hours of operation, directions, phone numbers, and reviews all in one place that's linked to my search engine.

I can see how, if Google's top priority is turning a profit, Google having a product so data-rich and unified that it leaves no room for competitors is bad for consumers in the long term. On the other hand, the most desirable option would be a reliably "benevolent" mega-corp that could be trusted to prioritize the user experience while also horizontally integrating across product segments to create a unified service.