Distraction Rebellion
DR

Alphabet (Google) Company Review — Provisional v1.2

Overall

Regulatory Heat: High

2.3 / 5 (rounded: 2.5)

Raw average across categories (7 split A/B/C). Rounded to 0.5 for the table. Compliance is the floor, not extra credit.

Reviewed: 14 Sep 2025 • Scope: Alphabet Inc. and key products (Search, Ads, YouTube, Android/Play, Chrome, Maps). UK notes below.

Summary (plain English)

Alphabet’s better behaviours largely arrived after regulatory shoves. Strong engineering and some meaningful user controls exist, but the core model still leans on attention extraction, heavy ad targeting and self-preferencing. Privacy/security gains are offset by antitrust findings and a rising AI-driven carbon footprint.

At a glance

  • US court: illegal search monopoly; remedies ordered. Source
  • Epic v Google: Play rules anticompetitive (jury). Source
  • Incognito settlement: delete data. Source
  • Emissions rising with AI demand. Source

Category scores (provisional)

These feed the table. Scale 0–5. 7 is split into A/B/C. Youth = category 8. Tax = category 9.

1 Data
3.0
2 Money
1.5
3 Design
2.0
4 MH & Minority
2.6
5 Environment
2.2
6 Workers
2.7
7A Elections
2.4
7B Lobbying
1.8
7C Geopolitics
2.8
8 Youth
2.7
9 Tax
1.5

Raw overall ≈ 2.3 (simple average across the above). Rounded for publication: 2.5.

1) Data Practices & Protection

Trust with data remains mixed. Google has beefed up export/delete tools and offers security features (2SV, bug bounty). But the Incognito settlement and long-running tracking concerns undermine confidence.

Pros

  • Comprehensive data export/delete and account controls; mature security programme and bug bounty.
  • Improved privacy/security and AI policy documentation.

Cons

  • Incognito case: agreed to delete billions of records alleged to be linked to private browsing. (Guardian)
  • UK Privacy Sandbox oversight signals ongoing tension between privacy and market power. (CMA)

Sources: Guardian (Incognito settlement); UK CMA (Privacy Sandbox); Google security/trust centres.

2) How They Make Money (incl. Monopoly/Competition)

Ads are the engine. Targeting at scale, default deals, and self-preferencing have drawn repeated antitrust action. “Do not sell/share” options exist in some jurisdictions, but the system still nudges towards data-fuelled advertising.

Pros

  • Subscriptions (YouTube Premium, Google One) and enterprise (Workspace) reduce ads/tracking for paying users.
  • Regional “Do not sell or share” settings and ad controls documented.

Cons

  • US search monopoly ruling with remedies ordered. (DOJ, FT)
  • Epic v Google: jury found Play rules anticompetitive. (CourtListener)
  • UK CMA oversight of defaults and Sandbox reflects competitive concerns. (CMA)

Sources: DOJ/FT (US case); Epic v Google filings; UK CMA (Sandbox).

3) Manipulative Design

Search “Ad” labels have at times blended into organic results; answer surfaces often keep users on Google properties, disadvantaging publishers.

Pros

  • Some clearer labelling after criticism; account-level ad preference controls exist.

Cons

  • Small/ambiguous “Ad” labels documented historically. (The Verge)
  • Answer boxes/self-preferencing can divert traffic away from publishers/competitors. (FT)

4) Mental Health & Minority Safety

YouTube has added wellbeing controls and more transparency; exposure to borderline/sensational content via recommendations persists, with uneven enforcement across languages/regions.

Pros

  • Teen wellbeing updates (take-a-break, bedtime, stricter defaults), including EU measures. (YouTube Blog, 2025)
  • Transparency/enforcement reports; researcher programmes improving access.

Cons

  • Harmful/recommender “rabbit holes” repeatedly observed by NGOs/academics; parity in smaller markets is a concern.

5) Environmental Impact

Extensive disclosure and renewable PPAs, but total emissions are up materially with AI compute; net-zero pathways face pressure.

Pros

Cons

  • Emissions rising since 2019, linked to AI. (Guardian)

6) Employee & Supply Chain Treatment

Strong white-collar conditions; contractor/moderation arrangements remain the weak spot with ongoing wellbeing and pay disputes.

Pros

  • Supplier codes and human-rights policies published; ESG disclosures in place.

Cons

  • Third-party moderation work flagged by rights groups for stress and compensation concerns. (BHRRC tracker)

7) Civic Influence & Geopolitics

7A. Elections & Civic Discourse

Policies on political ads/misinformation; transparency centres exist; enforcement and researcher access still debated.

7B. Lobbying & Policy Influence

Top-tier US lobbying spender; trade bodies influential.

  • Consistent multi-million-dollar annual spend. (OpenSecrets)

7C. Geopolitics & Sanctions

Service adjustments in high-risk regions (e.g., Russia) with compliance actions documented.

  • Advertising halted/operations curtailed. (Reuters)

8) Child & Youth Impact

Progress on teen defaults and ad restrictions; age assurance is a patchwork — robust for certain mature videos in the EU, but account creation age can still be mis-stated.

Pros

Cons

  • Age-verification verdict: Partially robust. Mature-content gates can be strong in the EU; general account age can still be faked; not universal across all services.
  • Exposure to borderline or potentially harmful content via recommendations remains a risk area on YouTube.

9) Community & Fair Tax

Alphabet discloses substantial tax information, but effective tax rates and historic routing draw scrutiny. Being legally compliant isn’t a gold star here.

Pros

Cons

  • Civil-society assessments criticise long-run tax practices vs headline rates. (Fair Tax Foundation)

UK notes

CMA’s oversight of Privacy Sandbox and scrutiny of defaults are material for UK users. If enforcement tightens under DMCC, we may publish a UK-specific split.

Source: CMA — Privacy Sandbox

Our stance on “forced” improvements

Following the law is the minimum. We don’t hand out extra points for fixes after enforcement. When changes are clearly driven by fines, judgements or binding commitments, we treat them as baseline compliance — and still apply the Regulatory Track Record malus to the affected category.