CA push for tech regulations could also hurt small businesses

Guest Commentary written by

Angela Harris

Angela Harris is a small business owner in Sacramento. She founded Wellness of Life Internal Restoration Clinic and Wellness of Life Products.

In 2006, after 31 years of research and collaboration with holistic health experts and practitioners, I decided to invest in my own holistic wellness practice in Sacramento. It’s been incredibly rewarding to improve lives. I love what I do, and I’m grateful to be a leader in our small-business community. 

But life-changing products and services aren’t enough to build a successful small business. Today, every business needs a compelling digital presence to survive – and I’ve worked diligently to establish one that works.

I’m extremely concerned about a proposal being considered by an obscure state body called the California Law Revision Commission. While the commission’s hearings tend to be overlooked, it is notable – and unsettling – that reportedly 90% of its legislative recommendations have become law.

The potential proposal is part of an review of state antitrust laws and meant to strike a blow against the biggest technology companies, such as Google and Meta. However, small local businesses like mine could take the hardest hit. 

Here’s why: Connection, convenience and consumer information. 

To succeed, small businesses have to attract customers, quickly give them helpful information, and make it easy for them to locate a brick-and-mortar store or website. Digital platforms like Amazon, Instagram and Google provide a number of tools and services like affordable advertising, customer reviews and ratings that help small businesses grow. They are often free. 

The proposed recommendations could totally upend the way those tools and services work. They would prohibit “self-preferencing,” which can occur when big digital platforms favor their own products and services over those from other comparable services.

What does that mean for me? Right now, if you search for my business online, our Google business profile will immediately pop up, allowing you to click on a map to find our location, read reviews of our business, check our hours, click a button to visit our website, or call to talk to an expert. The law revision commission suggests breaking all that information apart and forcing Google to show other companies’ maps, reviews and compilations of our business information. 

Those kinds of changes would be disastrous for local businesses like mine that rely on existing low-cost digital services. They would also make it more difficult to create a consistent, positive online presence, which is vital for building and maintaining a credible brand.

Our online ratings, paired with directions to our Sacramento location, helped establish our business and sustained us during COVID. About half of our new clients found us by searching and scheduling appointments online. And trust me, a lot of small business owners would share the same story.

Even my word-of-mouth referrals go online to review ratings, shop and instantly get directions from their vehicle or mobile device.

Interestingly, the Europe Union recently prohibited self-preferencing under new regulations, and small businesses there are surely hurting as a result. Since taking effect in March, Google Maps in business profile search results are static, so customers there can’t click for directions. Imagine if California decides that self-preferencing means that my business profile can no longer show my reviews or Amazon is prohibited from offering two-day delivery with Amazon trucks.

European policymakers may have been aiming for Big Tech companies, but small businesses acutely feel the pain of lost customers and revenues.

It requires consistent determination, dedication, discipline and digital tools to run a small business. From balancing faith and family life to persevering through the pandemic, this labor of love has ensured the health and vitality of my family and surrounding community. Digital tools have helped me sustain my business and graciously succeed.

The California Law Revision Commission needs to understand that digital tools help people like me grow our businesses and support our local communities and economies. The commission must consider the consequences of proposing policy changes and make sensible recommendations that help support California businesses instead of damaging them.