Are We At The End of The Open and Free Internet?

 With all of the changes taking place under the broad umbrella of "Data Privacy" are we at the end of the open and free internet?  Let's examine what is an open and free internet.

Open and Free implies that a user can access all data, content, information, and experiences as they deem safe, interesting, and engaging without a direct cost.  For many good, and some bad reasons this state is not what it was 20 years ago.  

Large and powerful gatekeepers have emerged including Apple, Google, ISP's, Twitter and Facebook who very much curate what we see, and how we engage with the web.  Beyond the core, brands, agencies, and ad tech companies further curate the web by blacklisting ad placements which are out of "brand safety" parameters on where they spend their ad dollars, hampering growth of more fringe websites and apps. 

Many of the advancements are quite good, protecting the public from dangerous scams, inappropriate content, hate, violence, and disinformation.  We can all admit more needs to be done to protect consumers from Fake News as this may be the most dangerous element of the open web going forward.

Today is a new era where Apple and Google are deliberately reshaping the nature of an open and free internet to specifically advance their own revenues vs. advancing the interests of an open and free web.  Many will see this as "the end", but perhaps it's just a new beginning.  

My assumption is that Google and Apple's moves to curtail open advertising systems that feed publisher revenues will have a profound impact on where we go from here.  Will new competition emerge and will the web become more fragmented.  Let's look at the basics of the gatekeepers and where they have power over the ecosystem:

Apple and Google both control the primary landscape on code and where all the rules derive from hardware, to operating systems, app stores, and browsers.  Google also controls the world search engine on how all content is discovered.  We have all observed the verticalization of technology and have celebrated this in the financial markets with stock prices soaring at each new wall built.  

Will this lead to new competition?  If so, who and how will competition begin to define and reshape "the open web" with new innovations.  There are new browsers like Brave, and Firefox, but they are still written on top of Chromium, and rely exclusively on Google Search.  Good, but certainly not independent.

I believe that it's time for a new search engine, new mobile OS / App Stores, and browser to enter the market, perhaps several with a specific slant.  Brave has taken the path to privacy and ad blocking by default, which will appeal to a certain audience, but what about building ecosystems that are appropriate for kids, subscription sites / apps, ad supported websites (free), shopping, social media, edgy content for those that dare, Anti-Fake News, etc.  Will we choose our web experiences more specifically by which browser or app store we engage with?

Hopefully we will see new competition, and I also hope this stems from innovation here in the US vs. other regions of the world.  That said, this innovation is likely to come from China, India, or Europe.  Can a big US device maker like Dell or Microsoft step up and compete with a mobile device with their own store?  or perhaps a new start up?

It's time for innovation to compete with Google and Apple !!