Reports: Google, Amazon to face new antitrust inquiries in changed political climate
Reportedly the DOJ will investigate Google and the FTC will take on Amazon.
Topic: Jon Leibowitz
From Praise To Outrage: Reactions To Google’s Antitrust Settlement
The post-mortem analysis of Google’s antitrust settlement happened very quickly yesterday and this morning with some journalists and analysts concluding that factors other than the law were responsible behind the scenes. For example, Politico asserts it was largely “a calculated and expensive charm offensive” (lobbying) that drove the outcome yesterday. An even more absurd analysis argues that […]
FTC Closes Google Antitrust Case: “Law Protects Competition Not Competitors,” Not Enough Evidence To Prove “Search Bias”
After 19 months of investigation, political maneuvering, lobbying and intense speculation the FTC has closed its antitrust investigation of Google. The outcome is almost exactly as we reported yesterday and it’s probably legally correct. Google comes away largely unscathed from the process. One can hear the celebrations getting started in Mountain View. The settlement has […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 30, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Adds Medications To Its Knowledge Graph Searchers in need of medical information will begin seeing detailed information on medications as part of Google’s Knowledge Graph product. In today’s announcement, Google […]
US, European Antitrust Regulators To Confer On Google Case
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the top two US and European antitrust regulators will meet in Europe next week to compare notes and discuss potential outcomes. Both are negotiating with Google to settle antitrust claims that would avoid formal legal action. The FTC’s Chairman Jon Leibowitz will meet with the EU’s Joaquin Almunia. […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 12, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Fined $208,000 In Australian Defamation Case, May Appeal Google has been told to pay the equivalent of $208,000 (USD) after recently losing a defamation case in Australia involving how it […]
Report: FTC Ready To Give Google Antitrust “Ultimatum”
According to a piece in the Wall Street Journal today and a parallel Bloomberg report Google faces an increasingly likely antitrust complaint unless the company steps up and offers some concessions (or additional concessions) in settlement discussions with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). According to Bloomberg, US FTC Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz is “pressing” Google to […]
SEMPO: FTC Is “Strongly Considering” Review Of How Search Engines Disclose Paid Listings
According to SEMPO, a search marketing industry association, the US Federal Trade Commission is “strongly considering” a review of how well — or poorly — search engines are compliance with its 2002 guidelines on disclosing paid listings to consumers. The news comes in a letter that SEMPO — the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization — sent to […]
Report: Majority Of FTC Commissioners Want Antitrust Action Against Google, But Vertical Search Might Not Be Issue
Reuters is reporting that majority of those on the US Federal Trade Commission believe an antitrust case should be brought against Google. But if action comes, it doesn’t seem likely to involve Google being found to “favor” its own “vertical” search engines like local or shopping over competing ones. Apparently four of the five FTC commissioners […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 20, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: The E-commerce Product Video That Increases Revenue Per Visit Which video recipe will make your cash register ring more often and more loudly? It was the end of a 12-hour video […]
FTC: We’ll Decide On Google-Antitrust Action By End Of Year
Speaking at an antitrust symposium sponsored by Georgetown Law School in Washington DC, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said that the commission was “on track” to decide on whether or not to pursue an antitrust case against Google “by the end of the year.” In other words: after the election — not that a decision would […]
A Letter To The FTC Regarding Search Engine Disclosure Compliance
In 2002, the US Federal Trade Commission created guidelines on how search engines should disclose paid placement and paid inclusion listings. It’s become clear to me over the past two weeks that the search engine industry has either largely forgotten these guidelines or is ignoring them. That’s why I’ve written a letter today to the […]
US Senators Call For FTC Investigation Into Google’s Search Results
US Senators Herb Kohl and Mike Lee are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Google unfairly favors its own properties in search results. Kohl and Lee are both members of the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee — that’s where Google’s Eric Schmidt testified in-person back in September on the same subject — and have jointly […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 15, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Third Party Page Managment Comes To Google+ Google+ pages for brands & businesses were announced last week, and Google has been busy rolling out supporting features. Yesterday, Google began displaying select […]
SEMPO To Feds: Hands Off Google
The search trade association SEMPO sent a letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz asking for regulators to restrain their urge to regulate Google. In the letter SEMPO argues “Free-market innovation in the Search industry is a key element in ensuring that the Internet continues to serve humanity’s needs as our reservoir of vital information and […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 21, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: AT&T: 43 Percent Of Local-Mobile Searchers “Walk Through The Door” There are a number of studies (e.g., Pew, Forrester) in the market that question how interested or engaged users are with […]
Google Settles FTC Charges Over Buzz, Agrees To 20 Years Of Privacy Audits
Google has agreed to have independent privacy audits over the next 20 years, to settle an FTC investigation into wrong doing over its Google Buzz product. The FTC has release a statement where Google agreed to allow independent audits of how Google handles privacy controls. After Google Buzz launched there was a lot of concern […]
Lawmakers Want FTC To Investigate Google Buzz
Google Buzz is having a bad day. I reported earlier about the lack of search interest in Buzz, but there’s a potentially more serious legal problem coming: A group of 11 lawmakers is asking the FTC to investigate whether Google Buzz violated consumer privacy regulations. BusinessWeek reported over the weekend that 11 members of the […]
Live Blogging The FTC Workshop On Journalism & The Internet
I’m at the FTC’s “Journalism & Internet Age” Workshop in Washington DC today, where we’re expecting addresses from Rupert Murdoch and Arianna Huffington, along with Josh Cohen of Google News and a variety of panels. I’ll be on one of those panels later today. I’m going to do a big live blog of things I […]
AT&T Secretly ‘In Bed’ With BT Firm?
AT&T which has publicly advocated on behalf of relatively stringent rules and opt-in requirements around behavioral targeting (BT) appears to have been working with BT firm Audience Science (formerly Revenue Science). Wendy Davis at MediaPost has written two related stories on the issue. Here’s her summary of the apparent contradiction between AT&T’s public position and […]