Google’s proximity to the Obama White House terrified its competitors

Evidence

Obama used his proximity to Schmidt to cement his own identity as the innovation candidate poised to disrupt business as usual in Washington. Once elected, Schmidt joined the Transition Economic Advisory Board and appeared next to Obama at his first postelection press conference. According to Politico, “The image alone of Schmidt standing elbow-to-elbow with Obama’s top economic thinkers was enough to send shivers up the spine of Google’s competitors. ‘This terrifies Microsoft,’ said a Democratic lobbyist familiar with the industry. ‘There’s a reason why people are scared to death of Google.’” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 393