Unjust competition is not uncommon: 8 major foreign bans that you should know about

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In an open letter in retaliation after being blocked by Baidu, Wandoujia wrote: If someone is being rude to you, it’s unlikely that reason will work if you talk to him.

Cheng Fei expressed his incomprehension: "This is just a business competition behavior. Those who call others hooligans are the big XX."

The first sentence this former Baidu employee was told on his first day at work still leaves a deep impression on him: "At Baidu, once any 360 product is running, it will be automatically detected and terminated in seconds."

In China, it is not uncommon for Internet companies to use their own advantages to block each other. 360 Mobile Assistant cannot be searched in Baidu Mobile Assistant, Xiami Music cannot be shared on WeChat, Youku links are not applicable to public accounts, and even before the merger of Didi and Kuaidi, Kuaidi red envelopes could not be shared in WeChat groups...

However, even abroad, those Internet giants that appear glamorous on the surface often actually do not hesitate to confront each other and fight to the end in order to "protect their food".

The following are the eight major banned events outside the Great Firewall that I have summarized for you:

NO.1 Apple is willing to be a "scheming bitch" to promote Safari

Apple has gone to great lengths to prevent you from using third-party browsers on your iPhone or iPad. Chrome is fast, Firefox is powerful, and Opera has a unique design concept, but Apple fans cannot enjoy the benefits of these browsers at all, because according to Apple's App Store policy, only third-party browsers made with Apple's own browser Safari kernel can avoid being rejected when submitting applications for approval.

So although there are so many third-party browsers on iOS, most of them are censored versions. Google's Chrome on iOS is not as fast as on PC and Android, and like the later iOS version of Firefox, the browser itself does not support powerful extensions. Opera Mini, which was launched in 2010, is the first non-Safari browser officially recognized by Apple, but Opera Mini itself does not support the font rendering and zooming functions in the Safari browser, and the experience is always inferior to Apple's own products.

Limiting the kernel is just one part of what Apple is doing to make third-party browsers more difficult. In addition to being able to use only the Safari kernel, third-party browsers on iOS are also forced to use the old WebKit Javascript engine. The latest, fast and good engine? Sorry, only Safari, its own child, can enjoy it.

As a result, Opera Mini was gradually abandoned by users; Chrome has no other features except allowing Google users to synchronize bookmarks; Firefox did not launch an iOS version of the browser until the end of last year, but it missed the golden period of the mobile browser market and it was all in vain.

NO.2 If you don't support Amazon Prime, get out, Apple or Google

Amazon has stopped selling Apple and Google set-top boxes and TV sticks because the devices don't support Amazon's streaming video service.

Although Google's Chromecast and Apple TV are almost non-existent to users in mainland China, they are still very popular on the other side of the ocean. However, starting from October 29, American users will not be able to buy them on Amazon.

However, Microsoft's Xbox One, Sony's Playstation and other devices will not be affected. All unaffected devices have one thing in common: they support Amazon's video streaming membership service Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon said in an email to suppliers that streaming media players that interact well with Prime Video are more convenient for users. However, the logic interpreted by the industry is that Prime Video is the main way for Amazon to make money, and devices that can neither bring users nor give money to competitors will naturally become targets.

In addition, Apple TV and Chromecast users cannot watch video content purchased on Amazon because Amazon has not optimized the purchasing experience in iOS and Android apps. On the iOS platform, Amazon users can only see purchased and rented content, as well as free videos provided by Amazon Prime.

NO.3 Microsoft is the weasel that pushes Skype to users and blocks Facebook

Microsoft blocked Google and Facebook chat tools in Outlook and recommended users to switch to Skype.

In February this year, Microsoft removed the chat features of Google and Facebook from its own email service Outlook.com. The removal of Google Chat seemed reasonable, as Google itself had already stopped supporting this product and switched to Hangouts, which is integrated with Google+, but the removal of Facebook was somewhat unreasonable.

In a statement, Microsoft said it understands that "customers may be disappointed from time to time, but we hope you will try Skype, which will bring you more convenient chat, voice and video services to keep in touch with family and friends."

NO.4 Twitter kills Meerkat to help its new friend

As a text-based social media, Twitter obviously will not miss this year's wave of video live streaming startups. At the SXSW conference in the United States in March this year (note: similar to the Strawberry Music Festival in China), a video live streaming application called Meerkat became popular. Meerkat is synchronized with Twitter, and users can share their video live content to social networks with one click. However, Twitter acquired another video live streaming application Periscope as early as January. This situation shows that they do not want to see, so Twitter banned Meerkat before the start of the SXSW conference. As time goes by, Periscope users have exceeded 10 million, and Meerkat has gradually faded from people's sight.

NO.5 Twitter lacks a sense of security, and even Instagram becomes an imaginary enemy

Coincidentally, in addition to banning startups like Meerkat, Twitter also banned big-name apps like Instagram. According to foreign media reports, the number of active Instagram users reached 400 million this year, surpassing Twitter to become the largest social application. In the past, after users shared their Instagram photos on Twitter, they could directly see the preview in the tweet. But in January this year, users found that the photos were replaced by a string of address links. If they wanted to see the pictures, they could only click on this link to enter Instagram, which greatly affected the user experience. Twitter's move is undoubtedly forcing users to use their client to post photos.

NO.6. Microsoft sets a trap for its competitors and uses it to promote its own browser

NO.7. The overbearing "chef" wants to promote the Apple Watch, and there is no reason to argue: if Buddha stands in the way, kill Buddha; if God stands in the way, kill God.

Apple has always been domineering. After releasing Apple Watch in March this year, it removed other competitors' products from its online store, including Jawbone and Nike's sports bracelets. Although Apple did not explain the reason for the removal, the reason is obvious: to make way for the Apple Watch, which was launched one month later.

NO.8. Apple sets barriers to users just to promote its own products

The iOS system of Apple mobile phones has been "de-Googled". When iOS 6 was released, Apple introduced its own maps and removed Google Maps. In iOS 8, Apple changed the default search engine of the browser from Google to DuckDcukGo. Apple's reason is that DuckDcukGo does not record user privacy and is safer. However, considering Google's market share in Western countries, this move is obviously intended to divert users to its partners. Of course, the search engine is not mandatory and users can still change it in the system settings, but this is tantamount to adding a threshold.