Privacy Regulation. Paradoxically, the regulations meant to protect users from Facebook and Google just deepen Facebook and Google’s moats.

The problem, in other words, isn't intermediation – it's power . The thing that distinguishes a useful intermediary from an enshittified bully is power . Intermediaries gain power when our governments stop enforcing competition law. This lets intermediaries buy each other up and corner markets. Once they've formed cozy cartels, they can capture the... See more

That doesn’t mean they can’t change, but so far, there has been a general unwillingness to look at the real problem. Rather than throwing out audacious claims like Facebook and Google should pay us for the right to send us traffic, we should, instead, be looking at finding ways to deliver value to our readers and ad partners in a way that platforms... See more

I was reminded of the smiling curve while reading this excellent piece by David Carr in the New York Times about Facebook and publishers:For traditional publishers, the home page may soon become akin to the print edition — nice to have, but not the primary attraction. In the last few months, more than half the visitors to The New York Times have co... See more