> What I truly miss is a competitor for both Google and Facebook. McDonald's has Burger King. Who do we go to when Google and Facebook overcharge us for advertising? The problem here is lack of competition

You do realize that Facebook and Google are separate companies that compete with each other, same as McDonald’s and Burger King?

They need more competition, that’s for sure. But they do compete with each other, same as McDonald’s and Burger King.

They compete in the same market (digital ads) but provide different utilities for the consumer, hence aren't competitors when it comes to user attention. Google provides a search engine, GSuite stack and other free products, YouTube, etc. Facebook provides a social network and networks to connect with their families. There isn't a meaningful competitor for either in either space. And most companies simply retain two marketing budgets - one for Facebook and one for Google.

Exactly, it's like with the Cable providers "competition". They theoretically "compete" because they sell the same, but in reality, geographical availability is set in a way that they are focused on servicing different demographies

They compete with each other in the same way the McDonalds and Burger King compete for the cows that are made into hamburgers ....

Google's and Facebook's customers are the advertisers, and they compete for those. But users are the product from which the burgers are made.

  > What I truly miss is a competitor for both Google and
  > Facebook. McDonald's has Burger King. Who do we go to
  > when Google and Facebook overcharge us for advertising?
  > The problem here is lack of competition

Forget advertising. I was recently passed up for employment because I don't use Whatsapp.

And no, I do not consent to Whatsapp's terms of service even if I could carry a second burner phone.

Hi, I find it interesting that you rejected a job based on the requirement for Whatsapp. What specifically caused that rejection and are there and other apps or companies that you would reject based on TOS. Personally I have concerns the way Microsoft is going with the MyAnalytics etc. but I don't know if I feel strongly enough to reject any job based on the tools they use.

Actually, I do reject most apps due to abuse of location and other data. I do have Telegram installed, with no location permissions. Other than that, the only other must-have app for me is AnkiDroid.

Can you provide more details on this? I decline to use a number of apps supported by Facebook and Google but have yet to have anyone refuse to hire me because of that.

Sure. During the recruitment process I had to go through a few stages and a few people. One of the seniors wanted to send me information via WhatsApp and I responded that I do not use WhatsApp. His response was pretty much install it to communicate with me or you're more trouble than you're worth (worded much more diplomatically). I did not install Whatsapp and was informed shortly afterwards that they are going with a more suitable candidate, even though I was far enough in the recruitment process that I was already scheduling with the PM.

as a browser, duckduckgo works a lot better for me then google. try it. you may still need google occasionally for specific searches and to cross reference search results, but i find it highly satisfactory. Remember, DDG is American-based and even I, a UK resident can use it well.

Unless you count that one time I accidentally searched for weather details on my watch, I have use Google search ONCE this year. DDG is absolutely fine right now. And again, unless you count my Android Auto (Google Maps) searches, I have use Google search maybe 20 times since August 2020.

> only the likes of Unilever could afford to run ads on TV and Newspaper

Yes, but there were plenty of other advertising opportunities for smaller businesses. Local papers. Specialist magazines. Local radio.

Yes but the number of slots are limited with radio and print and a national brand would not hesitate to outbid a local business if it thought it could bring in one more customer.