It is a defense against evidence of increased cost to consumers, ok, but that's again not the argument here. Not a 'perfect' defense might have been better phrasing since it's not a defense against the arguments DOJ appears to be making.
It doesn't matter if the government lost Ohio v. Amex, and it doesn't matter that it's about a two-sided market - I was using the Court's reasoning and outline of other ways to demonstrate anti-competitive outcomes. When the Court phrases something in their decisions a certain way or creates a test, it doesn't matter if the government fails the test in that case - the test can still be applied in later cases and in lower courts. Here, it wasn't even a new test, it was just a recent illustration of an earlier one.
In Ohio v. Amex, the Court found that Amex improved product quality and increased transaction volume generally. Regardless of the fact that the government would have failed because of the 'both sides of the markets have to have anti-competitive outcomes' elements, the way to see if it meets the bar is cost, quality and volume.
It's difficult in this market to make the case that decreased cost counters decreased quality or competition because the competitors also operate at zero cost to consumers. I'm not so sure they will fall on their faces arguing that the quality of the product is lower, frankly - we'll see. Either way, cost as a balance for anti-competitive behavior should not be a panacea here.
It doesn't matter if the government lost Ohio v. Amex, and it doesn't matter that it's about a two-sided market - I was using the Court's reasoning and outline of other ways to demonstrate anti-competitive outcomes. When the Court phrases something in their decisions a certain way or creates a test, it doesn't matter if the government fails the test in that case - the test can still be applied in later cases and in lower courts. Here, it wasn't even a new test, it was just a recent illustration of an earlier one.
In Ohio v. Amex, the Court found that Amex improved product quality and increased transaction volume generally. Regardless of the fact that the government would have failed because of the 'both sides of the markets have to have anti-competitive outcomes' elements, the way to see if it meets the bar is cost, quality and volume.
It's difficult in this market to make the case that decreased cost counters decreased quality or competition because the competitors also operate at zero cost to consumers. I'm not so sure they will fall on their faces arguing that the quality of the product is lower, frankly - we'll see. Either way, cost as a balance for anti-competitive behavior should not be a panacea here.
That said, Google will probably win anyway.