ftc

Google may dodge FTC's antitrust bullet, report says

The Federal Trade Commission may not have enough evidence of harm to consumers to proceed with an antitrust claim against the heart of Google's business, search, Bloomberg reported.

Google faces antitrust investigations from the U.S. FTC and from the European Commission, both going on for many months and both carrying the potential to wreak havoc with Google's search business. At the heart of the issue is whether Google gives unfair prominence to its own properties -- YouTube, Google Flight Search, Google Images, Google Shopping, Google Maps, and more -- at the expense of other businesses.

Regulators aren'… Read more

Google after antitrust: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Tim Carter was blindsided when his home-improvement site AsktheBuilder.com fell out of favor with Google's search algorithm about 21 months ago. His daily ad revenue from Google AdSense crashed from $1,400 to $70.

"I have learned my lesson," Carter said. "Anybody who builds a business based on the whims of a search engine's algorithms -- that's a foolish thing to do."

This recrimination, mind you, is coming from a former Google advocate. In 2009, Google published an AdSense case study about his success, and Carter even testified before the U.S. Congress … Read more

Two trustbusters who could decide Google's future

Think of them as the good cop and the bad cop.

Two individuals hold central positions in Google's antitrust challenges from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the EU's European Commission. As the European commissioner for competition, Joaquin Almunia has tremendous influence over what happens to Google. And in the United States, George Mason University professor Joshua Wright is expected to get some influence soon as an incoming FTC commissioner.

They contrast sharply. Almunia has been highly critical of Google and how it's done business since becoming dominant in search. Wright, though, not only advocates minimal … Read more

Judge OKs $22.5M fine against Google for Safari tracking

It's looking like Google may have to soon cough up the $22.5 million fine it agreed to pay in order to settle Federal Trade Commission claims that it illegally bypassed user privacy settings in Apple's Safari Web browser.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston approved the fine in San Francisco federal court late Friday, according to the Associated Press. This is the largest penalty the FTC has ever levied against a single company.

Google and the FTC reached the settlement agreement in August when the Web giant agreed to pay $22.5 million on charges that it &… Read more

Report: FTC recommends patent suit against Google

The staff of the Federal Trade Commission has formally recommended that a lawsuit be brought against Google for anti-competitive practices stemming from its technology licensing practices, Bloomberg reported.

A majority of the agency's five commissioners want to bring a suit, Bloomberg said, citing four people familiar with the matter. No decision is expected until after the presidential election next week.

In June, the FTC began requesting information from Microsoft and Apple about Google's willingness to license technology under patents necessary for 3G wireless, Wi-Fi, and video streaming. These are known as "standard-essential patents," and the FTC … Read more

Google is many things -- but not an illegal monopoly

This is a guest post.

The Internet market is notoriously dynamic. Its giants rise and fall far faster than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. This dynamism perplexes and worries many -- especially regulators in Washington, D.C.

Perhaps no Internet leader faces as much scrutiny from government as Google, which has been the subject of a Federal Trade Commission antitrust probe for over a year. As this investigation comes to a close, the government is reportedly leaning toward suing Google before year's end. Naturally, its rivals are lobbying the feds to come down hard on the search giant.

Yet Google's … Read more

What an anti-Google antitrust case by the FTC may look like

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's not certain that Google will face a federal antitrust lawsuit by year's end. But if that happens, it seems likely to follow an outline sketched by Thomas Barnett, a Washington, D.C., lawyer on the payroll of Google's competitors.

Barnett laid out his arguments during a presentation here last night: Google is unfairly prioritizing its own services such as flight search over those offered by rivals such as Expedia, and it's unfairly incorporating reviews from sites like Yelp without asking for permission.

"They systematically reinforce their dominance in search and search … Read more

FTC releases guidelines for facial-recognition use

Facial recognition isn't just science fiction anymore, and that's causing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to issue some usage guidelines to protect the privacy of consumers.

The FTC has some pretty obvious recommendations -- like not putting facial recognition-equipped digital signs in bathrooms or where children gather. But it also makes some good points, such as how to provide consumers with simplified choices and increase the transparency of the data collection.

Importantly, the FTC said services should be designed with privacy in mind. That includes integrating data-security protections that help prevent unauthorized scraping for unintended secondary uses. … Read more

FTC offers $50,000 to robocall killers

The Federal Trade Commission is offering a cash reward of $50,000 to whoever develops a solution to block robotic calling on both landlines and mobiles.

In 2009, the FTC banned automatic commercial telemarketing calls -- but solicitation is still a problem as advanced technology makes illegal, irritating calls more difficult to block.

The FTC Robocall Challenge site says that anyone who wants to take on the war with robo-marketeers can submit their idea from October 25 to January 17.

The FTC is asking these basic questions: does it work? Is it easy to use? And can it be rolled … Read more

FTC said to be 'strongly considering' paid listings probe

The Federal Trade Commission is "strongly considering" a review of whether Web search engines are complying with 2002 guidelines governing how paid listings are disclosed to consumers, according to a search marketing industry group.

The revelation surfaced in a letter sent today to the FTC by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPCO), in which the organization offers its assistance in revising guidelines on transparency of paid listings appearing in search results

From SEMPCO's letter, as reprinted by Search Engine Land (see full letter below):

We understand that the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau is now looking … Read more