39BloombergBusinessweek August 10, 2020
InMarch,EllenRoss’sbusinesscametoa standstill.Rossis
a psychotherapist,accustomedtosittingacrossfrompatients,
helpingthemdealwiththeirdeepesttraumasandfears.When
thepandemicstartedshuttingtheeconomydown,Rossshut
herSanJoseoffice,too.Shenixedplanstohireanotherthera-
pistandbeganadjustingtovideotherapy,whichmeant,among
otherthings,buildingbreaksinbetweensessions.
“Ican’tlookata screenaslongasI caninteractwithhuman
beings,”saysRoss,whospentyearscounselinginhospitals
beforesettingupherownpracticein2017.Andthentherewas
theGoogleproblem.Inthebeforetimes,Rossspentabout$20a
dayonsearchadstopromoteherpractice.Thatworkedwell
enough.Peoplewouldsearchforthingslike“therapistnear
me”andshewouldbidforthosetermsatGoogle’ssilentauc-
tion.If shewontheauction,adsforherpractice,TrueNorth
Psychology,wouldappearatthetopofsearchresults.Google
chargedforeachclick.In2019,shespentabout$5,500.
StartinginApril,Ross’scalculuschanged.Americanswere
stuckathome,somejugglinghome-schoolingandwork,others
newlyjobless.Theywereanxiousandsearchedthewebfor
help,sometimeslookingforvideocounseling.Rossnoticedthat
thepricesforherregularkeywordsjumpedsharply.Shewas
stillfindingpatients,thoughtheyoftenarrivedaftertryingone
oftheproliferatingvirtualtherapystartups,suchasBetterHelp
andTalkspace,andit wasbecomingprohibitivelyexpensiveto
buytheGoogleadstoattractthem.
Rosswasn’tsurewhattodo.Google,asshewellknew,has
a nearmonopolyinwebsearch—ithas87%oftheU.S.market
bysomeestimates.Itsnext-largestcompetitor,Bing,hasabout
7%.SoRossknewshecouldn’tsimplystopbuyingGoogleads.If
shedid,she’dloseoutonanynewbusiness.Butcontinuingto
paysomuchdidn’tseemsustainableeither.“I’ma fairlygood
psychologist,”shesays.“I’ma terriblemarketer.”
Rossis oneofmillionsofsmall-businessownerswhosereli-
anceonGooglehasonlygrownduringthepandemic,when
theinternethasbecomethemainavenueofcommerciallife.
Thatdependenceis attheheartofthemosthigh-profileanti-
trustshowdownsinceUncleSamwentafterMicrosoftCorp.
inthe1990s.TheU.S.JusticeDepartmentandalmostevery
stateattorneygeneralarepreparingantitrustcasesthatare
expectedtoallegethatGoogle’sdominanceis illegal.“High
pricesinandofitselfisn’tanantitrustviolation,neitheris being
big,”saysHerbertHovenkamp,a professorattheUniversity
ofPennsylvaniaCareyLawSchool.“Thebiggerquestionis
whetherGoogleis abusingitspower.”
Googlegota previewofthegovernment’slikelyargument
onJuly 29 duringa five-hourcongressionalantitrusthearing. It
opened with questions about Google’s stranglehold on search
and included lawmakers calling four tech chief executives
“cyber barons” and unregulated bullies.
Sundar Pichai, Google’s well-dressed and reserved chief
executive officer, began by ticking off family-owned U.S. com-
panies that have benefited from Google ads and services.
“Nearly one-third of small-business owners said that, without
digital tools, they would have had to close all or part of their
businessduringCovid,”hesaidviavideofeedfromGoogle’s
headquarters. The company gave out $340 million in ad credits
to small companies as part of its pandemic response. In his tes-
timony, Pichai also asserted that the company operates in com-
petitive global markets. The point was reinforced the following
day, when Google announced that its ad intake fell for the first
time ever because of the crisis. The company still finished the
spring quarter with $121 billion in cash on hand.
When it comes to advertising, Google likes to broadly
definethemarketit competesintoincludeeventelevision.
Andit likestopointtoitsfiercerivalrywithFacebookInc.
andAmazon.comInc.Butfortherapists,lawyers,andanyone
offering a service, this argument is bogus. People peruse
Facebook for the latest news or baby photo, not for psycho-
logical care. No one goes to Amazon to buy a therapy ses-
sion. Other search engines are afterthoughts. Ian Palombo, a
therapist in Denver, bought Bing ads right after the pandemic
hit, but it was such a throwaway proposition, he didn’t even
checktoseehowtheydid.“Imean,it’sBing,right?”hesays.
TherapiststalkaboutGoogleliketheywouldaboutany
utility.It’sjustanothercheck,onlythisonegoestothefourth-
biggest company in the world and comes with no guarantees.
“It’s a lot like a poker table at the casino,” says Daniel Wendler,
founder of Marketing for Therapists. “Anyone can play, but
unless you know what you’re doing, you’re likely to get rolled.”The last time the global economy cratered, in 2009, Google
released its first “Economic Impact” report. Regulators and
other critics were questioning its sway over web publishers,
whether the search engine was too big and powerful. Peppered
with glossy, smiling photos of mom and pop business owners
in each state, Google’s report showed that, far from consoli-
dating economic power, the company was helping the little
guys. A bookstore in Mishawaka, Ind., a lighting supplier in
Kennebunk, Maine, a remodeling service in Aberdeen, S.D.—
each had grown, Google said, thanks to Google ads.
Selling therapy, though, isn’t as straightforward as selling a
book or a light fixture. It can be expensive and, for some, still
comes with a stigma. “There is just a really significant human
need that a lot of us struggle with,” says Wendler, who’s been
helping therapists buy Google ads for the past five years. At 32,
with his rectangular glasses and untidy facial scruff, he could
pass for an engineer at the Googleplex. He also has Asperger’s
syndrome and wrote a guidebook, Improve Your Social Skills,
full of tips for others with it.
Those interests prompted Wendler to pursue a career as a
counselor. While in grad school, he set up a marketing prac-
tice for therapists and now handles the budgets for roughly
20 of them a month. He wrote another book, Clicking With
Clients: Online Marketing for Private Practice Therapists. In
the first months of the pandemic, he saw the prices of key-
words related to therapy jump as much as 50%, with some
terms that had once cost $7 or $8 fetching $10 a click. Prices
went higher as searches and buyers piled on. “There’s only
so much inventory,” he says, referring to the slots available