• Barx [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    6 days ago

    Yeah basic advertising. Getty already has a monopolistic position in that industry, tech is looking to “disrupt” it, which is just how they do this finance-backed monopoly creation thing in other industries. Uber is a financial “disruptor” of a taxi monopoly premised on becoming its own monopoly. They have jacked up prices now that it is clearly just them and Lyft. Same story for AirBnB. Nothing was really improved and in fact it cut into wages and ended up making service more expensive once the finance-backed underpricing (to establish a monopoly) ended.

    • spectre [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      6 days ago

      They have jacked up prices now that it is clearly just them and Lyft. Same story for AirBnB.

      Thing is that cabs are now competitive again. Took one from the airport last time cause like 6 of them were lined up while the Uber was a 15 minute drive away. the ride was the same cost. They’re losing at their own game cause they bought their own bs.

      Similar for Airbnb. They extracted so much profit that is just more convenient to get a hotel that’s “professionally run” to some extent for the same price.

      • Barx [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        6 days ago

        That’s very much true. The attempt to get a monopoly isn’t guaranteed to work. But it is what they are all searching for. They call it things like maximizing marketshare over profitability.