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Is Google DOJ Investigation A Result Of Angering Telecoms?
Search giant likely made a few too many enemies in DC...

Google's stock took an early morning hit after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department may be exploring an "antitrust challenge to Google Inc.'s growing power in advertising." While US lawyers have been deposing witnesses and issuing subpoenas for documents for the last several weeks, the Journal notes this doesn't always mean a case is pending. While Google's ad presence may very well be dominant, their enemy list has also grown immense. While that list includes obvious competitors like Microsoft and other ad outfits, it also includes the nation's largest telecom operators.

Over the last year or two these companies have given Google a crash course in lobbying and policy PR. They've been using every weapon available in their vast PR and lobbying arsenals to attack Google and slow the company's growth -- including corn farmers. Why? Google has been annoying execs in the telecom industry with their support of network neutrality, their involvement in the 700Mhz spectrum auction, and their support of white space spectrum broadband. Google's goal? More competition in the broadband space, and more ad revenue.

While Google may or may not be getting too big for their ad britches, you have to wonder if the DOJ's sudden interest in Google stems from a healthy concern for the ad industry, or from other motivators. Google's acquisition of Doubleclick saw a lot of canned outcry originating from competitor lobbyists last year, with baby bell funded mouthpieces like Scott Cleland testifying before Congress as objective experts about the dangers of Google's growth. Cleland, who is funded by all major telecom operators, can usually be found railing against Google over at his blog at the behest of his clients. He's but one of many policy weapons being aimed at Google.

Meanwhile, the DOJ, who is supposed to remain impartial, has shown they're anything but when it comes to the network neutrality debate. Last fall the agency stunningly issued a press release opposing network neutrality. That release all but mirrored telecom lobbyist talking points. Suddenly, they're investigating one of the wealthiest proponents for network neutrality and AT&T, Comcast and Microsoft's biggest enemy.

Coincidence? Maybe. But it's something to watch.
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
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KrK

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Interesting....

Feel free.... but you have to wonder who's lobbying for this action.

Still it helps keep 'em honest.

Dogfather
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join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

Dogfather

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Re: Interesting....

Doesn't keep them honest. It just keeps them spending money in Washington.

KrK
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KrK

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Re: Interesting....

said by Dogfather:

Doesn't keep them honest. It just keeps them spending money in Washington.
Ah, valid point there.

However, I wonder who's spending money is Washington right now to make this happen

Dogfather
Premium Member
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA

2 edits

Dogfather

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Re: Interesting....

Microsoft. It's classic strategy. Attack on 2 fronts. Get them from the gov't side through lobbying and from the market side through IE8's porn-mode.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
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join:2001-03-28
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tiger72

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Re: Interesting....

precisely. This isn't an issue of Google making enemies in Washington. It's about them not making enough friends yet. They're late to the lobbying game that MS has been playing since the DoJ last investigated MS.

RayW
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join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT

RayW

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Re: Interesting....

said by tiger72:

precisely. This isn't an issue of Google making enemies in Washington. It's about them not making enough friends yet. They're late to the lobbying game that MS has been playing since the DoJ last investigated MS.
Yup, Bill Clinton (and GB Jr) taught Microsoft the value of helping your friends in DC. Now we (a US government site) have the requirement to use MS products no matter how poorly they perform, unless there is no way that Microsoft has that tool available. I still keep FF on my PC and have less problems than the folks who are pure IE, even with our ton of security garbage. The only time I use IE is when I have to use flash or have to access a MS specific site (which is required by our network Nazis - all web sites on the work system must only be usable by IE, all others get removed).

Your Tax Payer dollars at work, protecting a valued company and thus the nation's security.
disc
join:2005-12-31
Raleigh, NC

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said by Dogfather:

It just keeps them spending money in Washington.
A nice make work program for all those lobbyists out of work for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
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it seems to me that Google is one of the few companies that dreadfully scares Microsoft.

KrK
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KrK

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Re: Interesting....

said by Kearnstd:

it seems to me that Google is one of the few companies that dreadfully scares Microsoft.
Yeah, and releasing their own new free Browser sure didn't help allay Microsoft's fears any, did it...

TechieZero
Tools Are Using Me
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You know my stance on this already.

Dogfather
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Dogfather

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Depends on why they're domiant

If they're dominant because they simply have a superior product is different that getting more dominant from abusing market position.

balazone
Premium Member
join:2002-04-01
Saint Louis, MO

balazone

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Confused

Is the antitrust about that everyone uses Google ad's on their sites or that companies are only using Google to advertise?

If it's the former there is a simple reason, Google ad's are clean, small, text only and not annoying. I would never put a flashing, sound playing ad on my site.

Of course, with Adblock Plus, I don't see the ad's anyways...

JGROCKY
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join:2005-05-19
Chatham, ON

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JGROCKY

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Re: Confused

Go figure... Making assumptions here, but it looks like they're getting attacked for doing well...

balazone
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join:2002-04-01
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balazone

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Re: Confused

said by JGROCKY:

Go figure... Making assumptions here, but it looks like they're getting attacked for doing well...
That's the American way! If someone else is doing better then you sue them. Trying to compete with them is so last century.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY

wifi4milez

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Re: Confused

said by balazone:
said by JGROCKY:

Go figure... Making assumptions here, but it looks like they're getting attacked for doing well...
That's the American way! If someone else is doing better then you sue them. Trying to compete with them is so last century.
I tend to agree. I think that if someone else is doing something better than you, its time to STEP UP not sue. Not that this article is actually about a lawsuit, but your point still holds merit.
wifi4milez

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to JGROCKY
said by JGROCKY:

Go figure... Making assumptions here, but it looks like they're getting attacked for doing well...
Yes which clearly means that we should increasingly regulate them, triple the taxes they are paying, and discourage them from actively helping the economy... Oh wait, that idea actually sucks.

KrK
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said by JGROCKY:

Go figure... Making assumptions here, but it looks like they're getting attacked for doing well...
That's how American corporations fight competition. Instead of competing, they try and nuke the competitor in Court, or by lobbying the Government to mess them up with regulation changes or investigations.... Watch lawsuits begin shortly claiming Chrome violates this or that look and feel type patent....

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
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pnh102

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No Real Federal Crimes To Deal With?

I am glad the DoJ has finally solved all of the real, tangible federal crimes that needed solving and that we do not need to worry about things like, oh, violent street gangs that cross state lines, or other such trivialities.

The people of the USA can now rest safe in bed at night knowing that the DoJ is going after big, bad Google.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
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Anonymous_

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Re: No Real Federal Crimes To Deal With?

said by pnh102:

I am glad the DoJ has finally solved all of the real, tangible federal crimes that needed solving and that we do not need to worry about things like, oh, violent street gangs that cross state lines, or other such trivialities.

The people of the USA can now rest safe in bed at night knowing that the DoJ is going after big, bad Google.
they will cut a deal for a wire tapping program

jap
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jap

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Re: No Real Federal Crimes To Deal With?

said by Anonymous_:

they will cut a deal for a wire tapping program
I loath your cynicism when it concurs with mine. Or rather mine says that's at the core of DOJ so-called investigation but I'm harbor some hope that Google won't cave.

cdru
Go Colts
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Actually I think DOJ will cut a deal in exchange for Google crawling and indexing the audio from the (il)legal wire tapping program.

Glaice
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Glaice

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AT&T

Why not them? They're large enough and are pretty dominant in the states.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
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wifi4milez

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Re: AT&T

said by Glaice:

Why not them? They're large enough and are pretty dominant in the states.
It already happened back in 1984.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th ··· _of_AT&T

uid1307457
Premium Member
join:2005-12-30
Tempe, AZ

uid1307457

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Re: AT&T

google is based in japan.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
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Re: AT&T

said by uid1307457:

google is based in japan.
HUH??

ReVeLaTeD
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ReVeLaTeD

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Re: AT&T

said by wifi4milez:

said by uid1307457:

google is based in japan.
HUH??
"HUH?" is right. Google is based out of California, always has been. Silicon Valley is called that for a reason.

KrK
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said by Glaice:

Why not them? They're large enough and are pretty dominant in the states.
Because they co-operate with the Government when it wants to break the law! After all.... if you punish them for breaking the law, they might not help out next time the Government needs to break the law!

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· YG6KTK-M

Jim Kirk
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Jim Kirk

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Re: AT&T

Awesome

FFH5
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FFH5

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The EU has also set their antitrust sites on Google

»www.free-press-release.c ··· 432.html
European Union antitrust regulators launched an in-depth probe Tuesday into Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion bid for online ad broker DoubleClick, saying an initial investigation showed the deal would raise competition concerns.
Governments don't like it when a corporation gets big enough to fight them on an equal footing.

KrK
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Re: The EU has also set their antitrust sites on Google

said by FFH5:

Governments don't like it when a corporation gets big enough to fight them on an equal footing.
Right. Until they join together, they get worried.

Maybe this is part of that effort to bring Google to heel.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
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really the only thing a government power wise has over many corporations is the military.
nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD

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said by FFH5:

Governments don't like it when a corporation gets big enough to fight them on an equal footing.
although that may be true, that isn't the reason for DOJ's interest. I call it governmental capture - my take on regulatory capture (from wikipedia):

Regulatory governmental capture is a term used to refer to situations in which a government regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead acts in favor of the commercial or special interests that dominate in the industry or sector it is charged with regulating.

also similar to plutocracy,
disc
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said by FFH5:

Governments don't like it when a corporation gets big enough to fight them on an equal footing.
Yes, I'm sure the congress critters from my state have that thought every morning. Not.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
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Transmaster

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Sleazy P. Martini sez

Them Gogle puckers have to much moola, ya noe what ey Mene it is time for us shister lawerys to sue a few hundred million bok's out of them's. That'll teech'em not to puck wit us.