Media. They own YouTube and are backing away from alt-right mainstreaming 'cos the money went out of it, turning instead to direct monetization. If their previous path was still profitable they would still be doing it and we would hear nothing of adblock wars, as that highlights one of their problems for which they are directly paid. I don't think there's anything else in that category to speak of.
They have the power to crosslink this monetization to the success of people using the platform by just making it part of the algorithm. Pay to play (your videos to any audience) and in so doing, normalize that we pay for this stuff like it's cable. Their economies of scale mean their break-even point is way, way lower than it would be for anybody else.
Maybe it would be unethical to stifle people on your platform if they're not normalizing the consumption of your platform like it's a for-pay service instead of some magical free thing that comes from nowhere, but it really never was a magical free thing, and Google's ability to platform or stifle people is the most powerful force they could possibly call upon.
It's just that they're turning to an actual market now, rather than maintaining the pretense that it's all free and instead getting paid by… what, Russia? Prager U? What has changed in recent years to imply that getting paid by a booming, capitalist market might be more profitable than trying to get paid by malefactors?
I'm pretty sure Google owns media now. That's what they won. We've seen worse than what we're currently seeing as they try to fight adblock and get paid as a service. Remember what happened when everyone thought it was infinite media for free. Someone was still finding a motive to pay 'em, but hidden motives are a lot more worrying.
They have the power to crosslink this monetization to the success of people using the platform by just making it part of the algorithm. Pay to play (your videos to any audience) and in so doing, normalize that we pay for this stuff like it's cable. Their economies of scale mean their break-even point is way, way lower than it would be for anybody else.
Maybe it would be unethical to stifle people on your platform if they're not normalizing the consumption of your platform like it's a for-pay service instead of some magical free thing that comes from nowhere, but it really never was a magical free thing, and Google's ability to platform or stifle people is the most powerful force they could possibly call upon.
It's just that they're turning to an actual market now, rather than maintaining the pretense that it's all free and instead getting paid by… what, Russia? Prager U? What has changed in recent years to imply that getting paid by a booming, capitalist market might be more profitable than trying to get paid by malefactors?
I'm pretty sure Google owns media now. That's what they won. We've seen worse than what we're currently seeing as they try to fight adblock and get paid as a service. Remember what happened when everyone thought it was infinite media for free. Someone was still finding a motive to pay 'em, but hidden motives are a lot more worrying.