FTC Narrows Focus in Google Investigation
August 15, 2011
The US Federal Trade Commission is moving forward with its Google investigation. The Wall Street Journal announces, “FTC Sharpens Google Probe.” Sounds painful.
The agency is honing in on certain areas of the company’s operations, like the lucrative Android and Web search services. Writers Thomas Catan and Amir Efrati report that, according to their sources, FTC lawyers:
have been asking whether Google prevents smartphone manufacturers that use its Android operating system from using competitors’ services, these people said. They also have inquired whether Google grants preferential placement on its website to its own products. . . . And they’re looking into allegations that Google unfairly takes information collected by rivals, such as reviews of local businesses, to use on its own specialized site and then demotes the rivals’ services in its search results, the people said.
Some weighty charges, all of which Google denies. The company suggests investigations here and abroad are spurred by competitors threatened by its legitimate success. Even so, it has modified some of its behavior in response to the concerns.
It’s still early in the process. Along the way, the investigation is likely to be subject to the good old fashioned American way of sophisticated lobbying.
Some Googzilla loving pundits assert that Google will escape with little more than a slap on the claw. Our view is that whenever the wheels of justice turn, the consequences can be surprising. Consider President Obama’s health care initiative and the fun loving Atlanta judge. Quite a surprise.
For pundits with little first hand experience with a Federal inquiry, uttering reassurances is such a nifty way to coo to the Google.
Cynthia Murrell August 14, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
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