欧盟委员会对谷歌(Google)进行反垄断调查

2014-10-10 15:08:27来源：可可英语

　　The European Commission’s antitrust investigation ofGoogle is a test of the continent’s ability to reversethe invisible conquest of its sovereignty. Much ofthe fault lies with the commission’s ownunimaginative technology policy, for which anepisode of Google-bashing is no substitute.

　　欧盟委员会(European Commission)对谷歌(Google)的反垄断调查，将检验其是否有能力扭转自身权力受到无形侵犯的情况。大部分过错在于欧盟委员会自身缺乏想象力的科技政策，打压谷歌抵消不了这个问题。

　　The “extended search” features that are at the centre of the commission’s complaint save usa few clicks and cut out a few middlemen. Search for “weather”, and Google will now show theforecast itself instead of sending us off to another site. Google says it is being helpful. Whocould disagree?

　　让欧盟委员会感到不满的核心问题是谷歌的“延伸搜索”功能，它让我们省去几次点击，减少几个中间人。搜索“天气”时，谷歌现在将直接显示天气预报，而不是引导我们去别的网站。谷歌表示，这么做是有益的。谁能反对呢?

　　But the search engine is going further. To truly anticipate our needs, the company wants toknow our habits, schedules, social circles. So it is planting sensors wherever they might pickup the faintest trace of our aura. First they popped up in our inboxes, which Googlecontinuously scans in order to sell advertising. Next it was our smartphones, glasses andthermostats. Soon it will be our cars. The ultimate step would be to abolish the search boxaltogether, and try to satisfy our information needs before we have even expressed them.Google’s Eric Schmidt once described this approach as a “serendipity engine”, arguing that thisis the future of search.

　　但这家搜索引擎公司还要走得更远。为了正确预知我们的需求，谷歌公司想掌握我们的习惯、日程和社交圈。所以，谷歌在所有能捕捉到我们一丝一毫气息的地方安置传感器。最开始，谷歌会在我们的收件箱里冒出来，那是谷歌在连续扫描，为的是销售广告。接着是我们的智能手机、眼镜和自动调温器。很快就会轮到我们的汽车。最后一步将是完全取消搜索框，努力满足我们甚至尚未表达出来的信息需求。谷歌的埃里克•施密特(EricSchmidt)曾把这种特色称为“巧遇引擎”(serendipity engine)，声称这就是搜索的未来。

本文关键字: 欧盟委员会对谷歌(Google)进行反垄断调查