Inside Google

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You can read ‘CQ Researcher’ in-depth report on Google’s dominance

Posted by John M. Simpson

The Prestigious CQ Researcher has recently tackled the issue of  Google’s dominance, asking the question: “Is the online-search giant too powerful?”  See below for information about how you can read the entire online version of this important study. In a half-page opinion piece in the 24-page report, I square off with Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt [...]

Is Google following Microsoft’s evil path?

John M. Simpson

Has Google taken a page from Microsoft’s evil history and started using the same anticompetitive tactics that landed the Redmond, WA., software company in antitrust trouble in the U.S. and Europe? A exclusive report in The New York Post says that’s exactly what the Federal Trade Commission is considering in its major antitrust investigation of the Internet giant.

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Google’s Monopoly Power Raises More Concerns

Posted by John M. Simpson

More examples of Google’s powerful grip on the Internet surfaced this week and its acquisition of the venerable restaurant reviewer, Zagat, raised new concern about how the Internet giant will use its monopoly power in the future. Being a monopoly is not in itself illegal. If you developed the position naturally without breaking any laws, [...]

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FTC targets Google for antitrust probe

Posted by John M. Simpson

Since April when Bloomberg News reported that the Federal Trade Commission was contemplating a full-blown antitrust investigation of Google, people who follow the Internet giant have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. It did on Thursday with the report in the Wall Street Journal that the five-member Commission is about to serve Google with civil subpoenas — known as Civil Investigative Demands — about its business practices.

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New book explains why you can’t trust Google

Posted by John M. Simpson

Nobody can doubt the pervasive influence Google has in our daily lives. For most people the Internet giant has become the primary gateway to the Web. No doubt many of its services are useful, but what is the real impact of a company whose audacious mission is ” to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful?” Scott Cleland has been doing some serious thinking about Google. His book, “Search & Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google Inc,” is the result.

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Google Faces Legal Woes Worldwide

Posted by John M. Simpson

It’s been a tough week for Google as it faced legal challenges from around the world, the most prominent being that Department of Justice antitrust staff is preparing for the possibility of a suit to block the Internet giant’s acquisition of ITA.

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NY Times Asks: Can Google Grow Without Becoming A Monopoly?

Posted by Jamie Court

The New York Times editorial questioning Google’s purchase of online flight software company ITA raises questions that could well apply to any new business Google buys unless the Internet Goliath changes its business model.

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LIVE BLOG: The Monopoly Question

Posted by Jefferson Morley

“What is Google doing wrong?” Virginia-based consultant and blogger Scott Cleland asked the Consumer Watchdog conference today. “They’re a nice company and competition is just one click away.” It is a common enough question which Cleland answered himself with a metaphor that poker players will appreciate. “Google deals itself Aces that are hidden in its [...]

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Hard-coding bias in Google “algorithmic” search results

Posted by Ben Edelman

Google tells the public its results have “no manual intervention” and result “solely” from “completely automated” “computer algorithms” that “reflect the popular opinion of the Web” “completely objectively”. It’s a lofty promise, but is it true?

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The monopoly question just won’t go away

Posted by Glenn Simpson

Google’s efforts to expand its search advertising business into the online travel sector now faces the combined opposition of its competitors. The campaign against Google is another reminder that policy decisions in Washington are crucial to the company’s efforts to expand beyond its search advertising business which still provides 97 percent of its revenue.

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Google ‘definitions’ offer interesting insight into Internet giant

Posted by John M. Simpson

Struggling to find the definition for a word? Simply type “define: XXXX”, where XXXX is the word you’re asking about, into Google’s search box. Over at the New Yorker in an article called “Don’t Be Evil,” Simon Rich notes Google’s ability to serve up definitions. Then he has a little fun.

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Our letter to Eric Schmidt: Google shouldn’t care more about its own privacy than ours

Posted by Jamie Court

Google’s mission may be to open the world to information, but it is refusing to let our consumer group buy a search advertisement promoting wildly popular online animation that takes CEO Eric Schmidt to task over his statements about privacy issues. It seems the search giant cares a lot more about its own corporate privacy, than it does about its users’ privacy.

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Google settles ‘Buzz’ suit; Texas opens antitrust probe

Posted by John M. Simpson

There were two major legal developments Friday involving Internet giant Google as the nation focused its attention on the long Labor Day holiday weekend. Both merit recapping, but unfortunately one is less of a victory for consumers than it might first appear. The other development could be a hint of huge problems to come for Google.