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FTC To Open Antitrust Investigation Against Google

Posted by timothy on from the still-waiting-on-the-congressional-search-engine dept.

itwbennett writes "According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is preparing to serve subpoenas to Google as a first step in a broad antitrust investigation focusing on whether Google search is unfairly driving traffic to its other sites. Representatives of Google and the FTC declined to comment on the report, although an FTC spokesperson did deny that the report came from them."

2 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Stupidity by AdmiralXyz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't see how it is unreasonable for Google to promote their own brand on their page.

    And Microsoft probably didn't see why it was unreasonable to promote their own browser on their operating system. Antitrust legislation is about more than promotion: it prevents you from your dominance in one market to muscle competitors out of a different market. Whether or not Google is actually running afoul of antitrust laws, I don't know, but it's definitely a possibility: you don't think it's possible that so many people are using Google Docs instead of other cloud document editing services because it's right on Google's homepage?

    --
    Dislike the Electoral College? Lobby your state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
  2. Another waste of time and money... by callit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    yep. keep rubberstamping deals like nbc-comcast and the soon to be att-t-mobile. Ignore the consistent anti-consumer policies of most ISPs and cable operators... and waste time on a company supporting its own business model in a way that barely affects consumers, but may impact other companies? Why is the government so anti-consumer and pro-corporation right now? Just how much money does it take to buy a senator anyway?