Why Forcing Google (GOOGL) to Share Its Search Data Could Backfire Spectacularly for Rivals

Regulators want to break Google's grip—but handing rivals its crown jewels might just handcuff them instead.

The Data Dilemma

Forcing search data sharing sounds like a competitive equalizer—until you realize most firms lack the infrastructure to process firehoses of raw information. Google's algorithms chew through petabytes daily; smaller players choke on gigabytes.

The Innovation Illusion

Mandated data access rarely sparks breakthrough innovation—it just encourages copycat engineering. Rivals would spend cycles reverse-engineering Google's stack instead of building something truly novel. Because why invent wheels when you can rent someone else's?

The Privacy Paradox

More data sharers mean more breach risks. Every new API endpoint becomes a potential attack vector—and regulators will inevitably blame Google when (not if) leaks occur. Because apparently trillion-dollar companies make great scapegoats.

Wall Street's Ironic Win

Here's the cynical twist: GOOGL stock might actually rally if forced sharing passes. Investors know competitors will waste years integrating messy data streams while Google keeps innovating—and collecting fees for 'compliance services'. Sometimes the best trade is betting on regulatory theater.

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According to one CEO of a rival search engine, giving others access to Google’s data might make them more reliant on Google rather than helping them compete. Indeed, if Google is required to share its data through an API, it could offer the service at a much lower price because of its size, thereby undercutting companies like Bing and Brave that have spent years building their own data systems. OpenAI, for example, has admitted that it WOULD struggle to match Google’s accuracy without access to its data, and it currently uses Google data through a third-party tool called SerpApi, which scrapes results from Google.

Interestingly, some believe that Google allows SerpApi to operate because it helps flood the market with cheap search data, which makes it harder for competitors with their own APIs to gain traction. In addition, even if rivals get access to Google’s data, using it wouldn’t be easy since Google collects billions of data points daily from its search engine, Chrome browser, Gemini chatbot, and more. As a result, Mozilla’s Firefox team says that only large tech companies have the resources to take full advantage of such data. Instead of sharing raw data, the CEO suggests a better way to boost competition would be to let rivals show Google ads on their own search engines and earn a share of the revenue.

Is Google Stock a Good Buy?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on GOOGL stock based on 26 Buys and nine Holds assigned in the past three months. Furthermore, the average GOOGL price target of $216.16 per share implies 4.7% upside potential.