Google s enemies

　　谷歌的敵人

　　SINCE thestart of thisyear, Googles share price has fallen steadily asinvestors have begun to fret about its longer-termprospects. Now they have another reason to worry.On June 24th the company revealed that AmericasFederal Trade Commission had opened a broadinvestigation into its online-search and online-advertising businesses to see if it has abused itsdominant position. Some pundits predict that thetrustbusters tussle with Google could turn as bloodyas their battle with Microsoft in the 1990s.

　　自今年初以來，由于投資者開始對谷歌發(fā)展遠景感到擔憂，其股價穩(wěn)步下跌。如今他們又有了新的擔憂理由，該公司在6月24日透露，美國聯(lián)邦貿易委員會為確定谷歌是否濫用了主導地位，對其在線搜索和在線廣告業(yè)務展開了廣泛調查。一些專家預測，聯(lián)邦反托拉斯檢察官與谷歌的角力可能會變得非常殘酷，其激烈程度可能與1990年代對決微軟不相上下。

　　The regulators move comes at an awkward time for Google, which faces a growing threatfrom Facebook, the worlds biggest social network. Facebook aims to supplant Google as themain conduit via which people access the web. On June 28th Google hit back, unveiling Google+,a social-network platform to rival Facebook.

　　世界最大的社交網絡Facebook意欲取代谷歌成為人們上網的主要媒介，對谷歌的威脅與日俱增，可是恰在此時監(jiān)管者又對谷歌展開了行動。在6月28日，谷歌還以顏色，發(fā)布了社交網路平臺Google+，以與Facebook一爭高下。

　　Googles new offering, which is still in trial form, boasts some handy features. It makes it easyto set up separate groups, thus sparing your boss from seeing your semi-clothed andinebriated party snaps. It also lets up to ten people hold a video chat together. But this willprobably not be enough to get people to abandon Facebook, which benefits from a powerfulnetwork effect: people join it because most of their friends already have.

　　谷歌的新產品具有一些方便的功能。它讓創(chuàng)建不同的群變得容易，因此

　　不會讓你的老板看到你的半裸和醉態(tài)熏熏的派對快照，同時它最多還能容納十個人在一起視頻聊天。但Facebook從強大的網絡效應受益良多，這可能也不足以讓人們割舍它：人們加入Facebook是因為他們大多數(shù)的朋友已經加入。

　　Still, Googles determination to keep innovating has served it well in its core business ofsearch, where it commands nearly two-thirds of the market in America and an even higher shareelsewhere . It is this dominance that has attracted regulators attention in Americaand abroad. Last November the European Commission announced a similarly sweeping reviewof Googles operations.

　　然而，谷歌不斷創(chuàng)新的決心對其核心搜索業(yè)務幫助很大，在這項業(yè)務上谷歌幾乎占據(jù)美國市場的三分之二，而在其他地區(qū)甚至擁有更高份額。正是這種優(yōu)勢地位吸引了美國和海外監(jiān)管者的注意。去年十一月，歐盟委員會宣布對谷歌的業(yè)務展開類似的全面調查。

　　Another reason that Google is attracting moreattention is that it keeps expanding into new areas.In Silicon Valley, one of the first questions apotential investor asks a start-up is: What wouldyou do if Google moved into your space? Some of Googles new ventures have beencontroversial. For instance, regulators recently gave the company a green light to acquire ITA Software, which provides online flight information. Severalother travel companies opposed the deal, howling that it would limit competition. Googlescritics say that because it has its fingers in so many pies, from online video to location-basedservices, it must surely be tempted to give some of its own businesses an artificial boost in itsrankings.

　　谷歌吸引更多注意的另一個原因是它不斷向新領域擴張。在硅谷，潛在投資者詢問新創(chuàng)辦公司的首要問題是：如果谷歌進入你們的業(yè)務領域，你們會怎么做?谷歌的一些新投資項目充滿爭議，比如監(jiān)管者近來對該公司收購在線航班信息公司ITA Software的交易大開綠燈，其他一些旅游公司對這項交易表示強烈反對，他們咆哮說，這將限制競爭。谷歌的批評家表示，因為谷歌染指了從在線視頻到位置服務的眾多領域，它必定非常想人為推高自己業(yè)務的排名。

　　Google acknowledges that it makes hundreds of tweaks a year to the algorithms thatdetermine the search results it serves up. But it insists that its aim is to improve usersexperience by, for example, blocking spam and thwarting firms that try to game its system. Italso likes to point out that its rivals, including Yahoo! and Microsofts Bing search engine, aremerely a click away. Rivals retort that only Googles name has become a verb, and that thisreflects its vice-like grip on the market.

　　谷歌承認每年會對決定搜索結果的算法進行數(shù)百項修改，但堅稱其目標是通過諸如阻止垃圾信息和對利用其系統(tǒng)進行作弊的公司進行阻擾的方式來提高用戶體驗。谷歌也樂于指出，其競爭對手包括雅虎和微軟的必應搜索引擎與它僅有咫尺之遙。競爭對手則反駁說，只有谷歌的名字成為一個動詞，這一點就反映出谷歌對市場牢固的控制力。。

　　Google s enemies

　　谷歌的敵人

　　SINCE thestart of thisyear, Googles share price has fallen steadily asinvestors have begun to fret about its longer-termprospects. Now they have another reason to worry.On June 24th the company revealed that AmericasFederal Trade Commission had opened a broadinvestigation into its online-search and online-advertising businesses to see if it has abused itsdominant position. Some pundits predict that thetrustbusters tussle with Google could turn as bloodyas their battle with Microsoft in the 1990s.

　　自今年初以來，由于投資者開始對谷歌發(fā)展遠景感到擔憂，其股價穩(wěn)步下跌。如今他們又有了新的擔憂理由，該公司在6月24日透露，美國聯(lián)邦貿易委員會為確定谷歌是否濫用了主導地位，對其在線搜索和在線廣告業(yè)務展開了廣泛調查。一些專家預測，聯(lián)邦反托拉斯檢察官與谷歌的角力可能會變得非常殘酷，其激烈程度可能與1990年代對決微軟不相上下。

　　The regulators move comes at an awkward time for Google, which faces a growing threatfrom Facebook, the worlds biggest social network. Facebook aims to supplant Google as themain conduit via which people access the web. On June 28th Google hit back, unveiling Google+,a social-network platform to rival Facebook.

　　世界最大的社交網絡Facebook意欲取代谷歌成為人們上網的主要媒介，對谷歌的威脅與日俱增，可是恰在此時監(jiān)管者又對谷歌展開了行動。在6月28日，谷歌還以顏色，發(fā)布了社交網路平臺Google+，以與Facebook一爭高下。

　　Googles new offering, which is still in trial form, boasts some handy features. It makes it easyto set up separate groups, thus sparing your boss from seeing your semi-clothed andinebriated party snaps. It also lets up to ten people hold a video chat together. But this willprobably not be enough to get people to abandon Facebook, which benefits from a powerfulnetwork effect: people join it because most of their friends already have.

　　谷歌的新產品具有一些方便的功能。它讓創(chuàng)建不同的群變得容易，因此

　　不會讓你的老板看到你的半裸和醉態(tài)熏熏的派對快照，同時它最多還能容納十個人在一起視頻聊天。但Facebook從強大的網絡效應受益良多，這可能也不足以讓人們割舍它：人們加入Facebook是因為他們大多數(shù)的朋友已經加入。

　　Still, Googles determination to keep innovating has served it well in its core business ofsearch, where it commands nearly two-thirds of the market in America and an even higher shareelsewhere . It is this dominance that has attracted regulators attention in Americaand abroad. Last November the European Commission announced a similarly sweeping reviewof Googles operations.

　　然而，谷歌不斷創(chuàng)新的決心對其核心搜索業(yè)務幫助很大，在這項業(yè)務上谷歌幾乎占據(jù)美國市場的三分之二，而在其他地區(qū)甚至擁有更高份額。正是這種優(yōu)勢地位吸引了美國和海外監(jiān)管者的注意。去年十一月，歐盟委員會宣布對谷歌的業(yè)務展開類似的全面調查。

　　Another reason that Google is attracting moreattention is that it keeps expanding into new areas.In Silicon Valley, one of the first questions apotential investor asks a start-up is: What wouldyou do if Google moved into your space? Some of Googles new ventures have beencontroversial. For instance, regulators recently gave the company a green light to acquire ITA Software, which provides online flight information. Severalother travel companies opposed the deal, howling that it would limit competition. Googlescritics say that because it has its fingers in so many pies, from online video to location-basedservices, it must surely be tempted to give some of its own businesses an artificial boost in itsrankings.

　　谷歌吸引更多注意的另一個原因是它不斷向新領域擴張。在硅谷，潛在投資者詢問新創(chuàng)辦公司的首要問題是：如果谷歌進入你們的業(yè)務領域，你們會怎么做?谷歌的一些新投資項目充滿爭議，比如監(jiān)管者近來對該公司收購在線航班信息公司ITA Software的交易大開綠燈，其他一些旅游公司對這項交易表示強烈反對，他們咆哮說，這將限制競爭。谷歌的批評家表示，因為谷歌染指了從在線視頻到位置服務的眾多領域，它必定非常想人為推高自己業(yè)務的排名。

　　Google acknowledges that it makes hundreds of tweaks a year to the algorithms thatdetermine the search results it serves up. But it insists that its aim is to improve usersexperience by, for example, blocking spam and thwarting firms that try to game its system. Italso likes to point out that its rivals, including Yahoo! and Microsofts Bing search engine, aremerely a click away. Rivals retort that only Googles name has become a verb, and that thisreflects its vice-like grip on the market.

　　谷歌承認每年會對決定搜索結果的算法進行數(shù)百項修改，但堅稱其目標是通過諸如阻止垃圾信息和對利用其系統(tǒng)進行作弊的公司進行阻擾的方式來提高用戶體驗。谷歌也樂于指出，其競爭對手包括雅虎和微軟的必應搜索引擎與它僅有咫尺之遙。競爭對手則反駁說，只有谷歌的名字成為一個動詞，這一點就反映出谷歌對市場牢固的控制力。。