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Don't be evil? Google's mobile services in Africa.

1 points by kakooljay ↗ HN
A recent article in The Economist discusses several mobile services in Africa, including Google Trader, "a text-based system that matches buyers and sellers of agricultural produce and commodities [in Uganda]. Sellers send a message to say where they are and what they have to offer, which will be available to potential buyers within 30km for seven days... These services cost 110 shillings ($0.05) a time, the same as a standard text message, except for Google Trader, which costs double that. In their first five weeks the services received a total of more than 1m queries." [http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14483848]

So it sounds like Google charges twice as much as its competitors.. just wondering why...

4 comments

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byoung2
If the service is superior to their competitors' offerings, there is nothing wrong with charging a premium. Actually, when you think of it, charging a lower price might be more evil if it undercuts the competition and puts them out of business (a la Walmart).
fmendez
I would have agreed with your argument about not lowering the price if your offering is superior, but aren't we talking about a very poor country? doesn't Google have enough $$ to make a concession? (I'm not talking about giving the service for free just low enough to match competition).
melling
Google's service must be better, right? Otherwise, people would just pay half the price. What exactly is wrong with charging a fair price in a competitive market. They might even be able to take some of those extra nickels, hire more people and build even more services.
kakooljay
I believe in free markets too (I'm an economist + engineer). But Google, which professes to "not be evil" & is making peanuts on these services, could have set a great example (and not risked damaging publicity)..