Google under threat

Google has a lot at stake if the Justice Department (DOJ) succeeds in breaking up its empire, from control over its search data and Android operating system to the loss of its Chrome browser. But the biggest threat the company faces is to a search business that is deeply woven into the technology ecosystem of its parent company Alphabet. Of the $307.3bn in revenue Google made in 2023, $175bn came solely from that ad-driven search engine business. The DOJ wants to impose dozens of limitations on the way that Google connects that engine with consumers. Other parts of Alphabet could also be affected. The DOJ also asked for the company to be prohibited from favouring its video subsidiary, YouTube, which is part of its YouTube Ads business unit. That unit, which generated $31.3 billion in revenue in 2023, earns money through ads that appear on and around YouTube videos. Google search promotes YouTube video links in response to user queries.

(Adapted from “How A Breakup Could Upend Google (And The Tech World),” by Daniel Howley and Alexis Keenan, published on November 28, 2024, by Yahoo Finance)

China’s revival?

China’s factory activity expanded modestly for a second straight month in November, an official survey showed, adding to a string of recent data suggesting a blitz of stimulus is finally trickling through the world’s second-largest economy just as Donald Trump ramps up his trade threats. The National Bureau of Statistics purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Saturday rose to 50.3 — a seven-month high — from 50.1 in October, above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction and beating a median forecast of 50.2 in a Reuters poll. The mood in China’s manufacturing sector has been depressed for months due to tumbling producer prices and dwindling orders, but two months of positive PMI readings suggest the stimulus announcements are improving sentiment on factory floors. That said, fresh headwinds from additional US tariffs could threaten China’s industrial sector next year and pour cold water over any early optimism in the Asian giant’s manufacturing sector.

(Adapted from “China Nov Factory Activity Expands For Second Month As Trump Threats Loom,” by Ziyi Tang and Joe Cash, published on November 30, 2024, by Reuters)

AI chatbots in customer service

By corporate America’s (sometimes dubious) telling, AI is basically the answer to everything, including customer service. Businesses say it’s the way to unlock efficiencies and improve customer “journeys” so people can solve their problems and get what they need on their own, and fast. The bigger, though less advertised, focus is how AI can save companies money and cut costs, whether by helping human assistants or, in likelier scenarios, reducing the need for human assistants at all. Corporations have long seen contact centers as cost centers, and ones they’re constantly looking for ways to reduce. Simply put, the AI still doesn’t work that well. Many of these chatbots and virtual support agents are not ready for prime time. People don’t want to use them, but they have to anyway. At the moment, customers are the guinea pigs in companies’ experimentation with AI.

(Adapted from “Customer Service Hits
A New Low,” by Emily Stewart, published on November 26, 2024, by Business Insider)

Toys galore

Fast-growing speciality e-commerce sites such as PDD’s Temu and its rival Shein are branching deeper into the business of selling toys as many American and European shoppers prepare to seek out steep bargains during the Black Friday weekend. In previous years, Temu and Shein would not have been the usual places for shoppers to buy toys and other holiday gifts. The competing platforms serve as America’s digital “dollar stores,” offering mostly unbranded items, from bath towels and clothes to home appliances, at low prices. Now both Temu and Shein are looking to win a bigger slice of the global market for toys, which fuel sales for retailers during the holiday season. Toys drove $108.7 billion in sales globally in 2023, according to market research firm Circana.

(Adapted from “Shein, Temu Branch Further Into Toy Market Amid Worry Over Fake Products,” by Jessica DiNapoli, Helen Reid and Arriana McLymore, published on November 29, 2024)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 2nd, 2024