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FTC Begins Google Investigation
Google: Who, Us?

The Wall Street Journal today reports that the FTC has launched an investigation into Google's business practices, looking specifically at whether the search giant has abused its dominance in search-related advertising. Google confirms over at the official Google blog that the FTC has launched an investigation and contacted them, but shrugs their shoulder dumbly at what the investigation is about, reminding readers that use of Google's systems is a choice. Google notes they're guided by a number of principles on transparency and honest ad sales, and that -- well gosh darn it -- they're just here to help the user:

quote:
Yesterday, we received formal notification from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it has begun a review of our business. We respect the FTC’s process and will be working with them (as we have with other agencies) over the coming months to answer questions about Google and our services. It’s still unclear exactly what the FTC’s concerns are, but we’re clear about where we stand. Since the beginning, we have been guided by the idea that, if we focus on the user, all else will follow.
While that certainly sounds lovely, Google has clearly shown in recent months that the principles that guided their actions early on have steadily deteriorated -- the company increasingly making decisions that are anti-innovation, anti-openness and anti-consumer. To be clear: like any massive company, Google does act anti-competitively. At the same time however, there's certainly no shortage of very large and wealthy companies -- with even worse records on consumer and competition issues -- lobbying behind the scenes constantly (AT&T, Microsoft, Comcast, Verizon) trying to get Google regulated more heavily.

Using think tanks, lobbyists, bizarre arguments, utterly fabricated science, and hired PR men pretending to be objective analysts, these companies have been trying to sic Uncle Sam on the search giant for years for any number of infractions. The primary goal is to protect legacy business models from some of the disruptive things Google has been doing in telecom. However, executives at some of these government-pampered companies (notably AT&T) also honestly believe they deserve a cut of Google ad revenue simply because the traffic touches their network. In fact, it was that kind of logic (hoping to offload network build costs on content companies) that really started the network neutrality debate in 2005.

The FTC inquiry may result in penalties and it may not, and there certainly may be instances where Google is ranking competitor products/sites unfairly. However, make no mistake as to where some of this motivation (by regulators who in recent years just can't get enough of mega-mergers and often do nothing to tackle anti-competitive behavior in cornered markets) is originating. Google users often have a choice not to use Google products. Many broadband customers don't have that luxury, and the kind of scrutiny Google receives on the search front is often nowhere to be found in telecom, where companies like AT&T enjoy regulatory capture.

With Google only taking lobbying seriously in the last four years or so, they're still a few years away from enjoying regulators who ignore any and all anti-competitive behavior.
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hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Review isn't random.....

this is over Google trying to buy another ad company. DOJ is doing their own investigation and has been posted on other sites a few weeks ago.
MrHappy316
Wish I had my tank
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join:2003-01-02
Columbia, SC

MrHappy316

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This is stupid

I read another article comparing this to what happened to Microsoft a decade ago. I do not even see how either of these closely compare. If you do not like "FREE" Google search there are many more other "FREE" searches out there.
neufuse
join:2006-12-06
James Creek, PA

neufuse

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Re: This is stupid

this is about ad services not free stuff... they pretty much cornered the ad market

FFH5
Premium Member
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Tavistock NJ

FFH5

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Re: This is stupid

said by neufuse:

this is about ad services not free stuff... they pretty much cornered the ad market

And they use their market dominance to funnel business to their own favored companies over those of competitors. That is the crux of the reason the FTC is investigating.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

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Re: This is stupid

right- along with the DOJ due to a pending buy out of another advertising company.
MrHappy316
Wish I had my tank
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MrHappy316 to FFH5

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to FFH5
How do they have market dominance there are plenty of "FREE" search engines out there, and if you want to you can compare their results to find out what you need.

While I admit it isn't rocket science, a little common sense helps when selecting the link you follow.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: This is stupid

again; its NOT over the search engine! It's over their AD NETWORK. They're trying to purchase another company and its raising red flags within the DOJ so everyone is investigating their business practices for their ad networks.
MrHappy316
Wish I had my tank
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MrHappy316

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Re: This is stupid

When was the last time you saw a google billboard on the interstate then?
hottboiinnc4
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hottboiinnc4

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Re: This is stupid

apples to oranges. And those billboards are owned either by a local ad company or a national company such as: Lamar, Clear Channel, or CBS Advertising. billboards are NOT anywhere close to the same as online advertising and tracking. Regardless if you use Google you're still being tracked by them just because of the amount of ad companies they own. The largest being DoubleClick.
MrHappy316
Wish I had my tank
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MrHappy316

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Re: This is stupid

You are right and i did just actually threw that out there to see what kind of reaction I would get. But the key thing is are they going to treat google as a computer search engine, exclusive online ad company or a all around ad company(ie billboards, newspapers, online etc)?

HB61
Maru Maru Mori Mori
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HB61

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Re: This is stupid

They don't look at the business but the marketplace the business is engaged in, in this case particular web advertising. But more specifically, was/is there any abuse of their market position in search or other businesses to build their ad business.

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
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said by FFH5:

said by neufuse:

this is about ad services not free stuff... they pretty much cornered the ad market

And they use their market dominance to funnel business to their own favored companies over those of competitors. That is the crux of the reason the FTC is investigating.

In which case, these guys need to focus a little more on the AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile, as that is much more a clear-cut case of anti-competitive laws that they're supposed to be enforcing.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: This is stupid

said by C0deZer0:

said by FFH5:

said by neufuse:

this is about ad services not free stuff... they pretty much cornered the ad market

And they use their market dominance to funnel business to their own favored companies over those of competitors. That is the crux of the reason the FTC is investigating.

In which case, these guys need to focus a little more on the AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile, as that is much more a clear-cut case of anti-competitive laws that they're supposed to be enforcing.

Generally the gov't is in the business of enforcing laws that are broken. AT&T's merger hasn't broken any laws - yet.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
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hottboiinnc4

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Re: This is stupid

very true. and actually it won't. The public will still have options. Verizon Wireless (and their MVNOs) Sprint (and their MVNOs and tons of brands), Leap/Cricket, MetroPCS, and other flat rate regional carriers. Still are options; even if they resell.

fatness
subtle

join:2000-11-17
fishing

fatness to FFH5

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

said by C0deZer0:

said by FFH5:

And they use their market dominance to funnel business to their own favored companies over those of competitors. That is the crux of the reason the FTC is investigating.

In which case, these guys need to focus a little more on the AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile, as that is much more a clear-cut case of anti-competitive laws that they're supposed to be enforcing.

Generally the gov't is in the business of enforcing laws that are broken. AT&T's merger hasn't broken any laws - yet.

That's the same situation described in this article --- Google is being investigated but no violations of law are cited.

Some people just favor AT&T over Google since AT&T is more compliant with government requests for surveillance, or since Google sends campaign contributions to candidates or parties they don't like.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

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Just like the NFL uses their market dominance to funnel business to their owned favored companies over competitors.

Advertising is advertising and those that want to play more get more face time. It is as simple as that.

elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO

elios to MrHappy316

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to MrHappy316
whats worse is they are pestering Google which has done more good for the world and internet then almost any one else

yet turn a blind eye to AT&T >.>
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
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hottboiinnc4

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Re: This is stupid

Google hasn't done any good. Their ad tracking just barley skirts the law and that is one major thing under review. Also them promoting ILLEGAL online drug stores is another thing they're being investigated on by the FDA. Since when did ATT do any of that sort?

HB61
Maru Maru Mori Mori
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join:2011-06-21
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HB61

Premium Member

Re: This is stupid

said by hottboiinnc4:

Since when did ATT do any of that sort?

When AT&T turned over call data to the National Security Agency?
Ricanlegend
join:2011-05-18
Bronx, NY

Ricanlegend

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I guess the FTC has nothing better to do

People say google corner the market thats bs , i started using bing lately because they gave me 200 free microsoft points and the ability to keep earning more for searching , If these search service providers offer something as incentive people will use there service

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
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join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: I guess the FTC has nothing better to do

Really? Why didn't I hear of this?

geeeeez
@telus.net

geeeeez

Anon

how about, instead?

Lobbying needs to be made a crime, since it is a crime. Along comes a person(actually a corporation) who gives untaxable perks(free vacation villa for three weeks anyone?) to certain congressmen and boom the consumer gets the shaft and certain company's get to spend millions defending themselves from the crooked competition.
then there is ISP's that are committing a crime by hacking the users DNS lookup with a redirect or just plain blocking/throttling a site "accidentally". So where is that criminal investigation again? Comcast's executives were never put in jail for hacking the users data stream to block P2P.
hey everybody, ask your ISP on how they are using DPI to harvest your Internet data(aggregated data can be tied to an individual) and selling that to Ad companies for a nice profit.

Google is getting slightly more evil(Ad's make money you know), but not as bad as all these scum company's that refuse to go to new business models and are constantly putting their hand out(wearing all the shiny bling rings) and committing the crime of embezzlement from the North American people(tax money that goes to corporations instead of for the peoples services). Even worse is the ISP's are partnering with known extortionists(copyright mafia) to further milk the users for every penny that is left after the republicans destroyed the economy with "no regulation" on how much company's can profit from (what have been termed as) illegal trading/deals.

Metatron2008
You're it
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Metatron2008

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Google has always been evil.

I don't care what anyone says.

With that said, this is akin to the devil (ISPs) asking a corrupt cop to invesitage a street drug dealer (Google)

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

Phooey!

I have been using Google since they first went online, I mean literally the day they started. I have watched them grow over the years Google works for me I could care less about anything else.

Jameson
Premium Member
join:2004-05-28
united state

Jameson

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Re: Phooey!


Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

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Transmaster

Member

Re: Phooey!

If you recall they where saying the same thing about the evil Internet Explorer, it was so unfair that IE was free but Netscape wasn't. It buried a host of other browsers, which frankly where not that good anyway. Look at the landscape now. Chrome, FireFox, Opera, Safari, etc, etc. Even though IE still is the most used feature wise, it has been playing catch up for years.

ArrayList
DevOps
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ArrayList to Metatron2008

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to Metatron2008

Re: Google has always been evil.

said by Metatron2008:

I don't care what anyone says.

With that said, this is akin to the devil (ISPs) asking a corrupt cop to invesitage a street drug dealer (Google)

capitalism is evil? no way. people need to drop the whole "google is evil" bit. wtf is that supposed to mean anyways?!

Metatron2008
You're it
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Metatron2008

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Re: Google has always been evil.

said by ArrayList:

said by Metatron2008:

I don't care what anyone says.

With that said, this is akin to the devil (ISPs) asking a corrupt cop to invesitage a street drug dealer (Google)

capitalism is evil? no way. people need to drop the whole "google is evil" bit. wtf is that supposed to mean anyways?!

So google is capitalism now?

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
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ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Google has always been evil.

said by Metatron2008:

said by ArrayList:

said by Metatron2008:

I don't care what anyone says.

With that said, this is akin to the devil (ISPs) asking a corrupt cop to invesitage a street drug dealer (Google)

capitalism is evil? no way. people need to drop the whole "google is evil" bit. wtf is that supposed to mean anyways?!

So google is capitalism now?

businesses are capitalistic. they are out to make money any way they can. sometimes they stretch the law. morality has no place in successful businesses. This should be apparent by now.

Metatron2008
You're it
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Metatron2008

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Re: Google has always been evil.

bullshit. If businesses do wrong the people who make the choices should go to prison. Nobody is above the law including businesses.

ArrayList
DevOps
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join:2005-03-19
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1 recommendation

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Google has always been evil.

just because something is wrong doesn't mean it is illegal. and just because something is illegal does not mean it is wrong.

FFH5
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Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to Metatron2008

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to Metatron2008
said by Metatron2008:

I don't care what anyone says.

With that said, this is akin to the devil (ISPs) asking a corrupt cop to invesitage a street drug dealer (Google)

Those who hate Google; some with a good reason; some not.

»news.cnet.com/8301-1023_ ··· 1_3-0-20

rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

rit56

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FTC

How would I go about getting them to investigate my Fantasy Baseball League? Something's not right there.
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin

Member

Karl...

I really think your attitude towards Google here doesn't make sense. The arguments are spurious at best, and I have little doubt Microsoft et al. have been lobbying the government to open up anti-trust investigations.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Karl...

you are correct. This is all over the company Google plans on taking over. The DOJ is running their own investigation and Google is hoping that their merger/buy out will be approved of the new advertising company they want. Their recent run ins with the gov't and lying about their advertising practices will always get your next buy out attention especially when you already control the ad market.

Kid A
join:2000-09-21
Nashville, TN

Kid A

Member

yeah...

Call me cynical, but it looks like the government wants a piece of the action. We will see this go down the memory hole once terms are settled. Screw google. That's why i use scroogle scraper for my searches. Granted, it's not perfect, but at least it's an alternative.

Edrick
I aspire to tell the story of a lifetime
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join:2004-09-11
San Diego, CA

Edrick

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Google > Corporate America

The great thing is once you get all these past CEOs and Figureheads and Investors involved a company that was founded on something great quickly becomes a cash cow.

i1me2ao
Premium Member
join:2001-03-03
TEXAS

i1me2ao

Premium Member

donate

and start a lobby group and this shakedown will all go away. at least with mob it is plainly obvious it is a shakedown..

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

The key words

The key words in the article are "if we focus on the user"

Unfortunately, they have focused WAY to much on and into the user!

Never have particularly cared for Google and DEFINITELY hate their products. It's NOT the greatest invention since the internet, IMO.

I can find what ever I'm looking for without them anyway. I hope they get the s**t busted out of themselves.

Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

Corehhi

Member

The beginning of the end

This always happens when a tech company hits their apex, they can't be stopped etc etc. By the time investigations are over the company is on the downward slide.

Tech companies end up as buggy whip makers at a fast rate. Google isn't done but they have peaked. Something new is always around the corner and there will be new battles to be fought and new companies that no one saw coming. NetFlix??? No one took them seriously, want to bet they're taken seriously now?? What happen? Bandwidth came to the common man.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Another DOJ Investigation

of Google: »news.cnet.com/8301-1023_ ··· -93.html It looks like Google is over stepping their boundaries according to the DOJ.

"The Wall Street Journal reported three days later that the settlement would resolve a criminal investigation into allegations Google made hundreds of millions of dollars accepting ads from illegal online pharmacies.

Read more: »news.cnet.com/8301-1023_ ··· IXsOBqs"

And here is what's going on on:

"The Department of Justice (DOJ) will review Google’s $400 million purchase of Admeld Inc., an Internet advertising company, to investigate whether the deal had an adverse effect on competition.

The DOJ’s investigation coincides with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust investigation of Google’s dominance in the search-engine industry.

According to Bloomberg, concurrent antitrust investigations of a company by the two federal agencies are rare.

Google’s acquisition of Admeld is expected to secure its position as the leader in the display-advertising market, which is the fastest-growing segment of the Internet advertising market. According to a May 26 report by market research firm International Data Corporation, Google had 14.7 percent of the display-advertising market in the first quarter.
" -- »www.insidecounsel.com/20 ··· -investi

•••

NOCMan
MadMacHatter
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Colorado Springs, CO

NOCMan

Premium Member

Actually

Has anyone seen a Bing or Yahoo search ad on google?