Tag Archive | "advertising"
Google Polishes Competition Charm Offensive
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Google continued to lay the groundwork Wednesday for an antitrust defense in the event that the federal government decides to take a formal look at its core business. Inside a conference room in Google's San Francisco office, executives ran through essentially the same presentation leaked last month by the consumer activist group Consumer Watchdog, focusing most of their efforts on trying to paint a picture of Google as just one part of a large Internet ecosystem, as opposed to a dominant search giant.
Continue reading...Google Lobbyist Unfit for Deputy CTO Job, Say Critics
Thursday, June 4, 2009
President Obama reportedly is poised to name Andrew McLaughlin, a former Google executive, as U.S. deputy CTO. The choice rankles the heads of two advocacy groups, who maintain that McLaughlin's work as a lobbyist on behalf of Google makes him unsuitable for the government policy development role.
Continue reading...Google’s influence grows in the W.H.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Consumer groups urged the White House on Wednesday to back off its reported pick for deputy chief technology officer because he was listed as a registered lobbyist for Google. Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy said Andrew McLaughlin, the head of Google’s global public policy, would break President Barack Obama’s executive order barring lobbyists from serving in policy areas they lobbied in the previous two years.
Continue reading...Google Updates PageRank, Rolls Out Web Elements
Thursday, May 28, 2009
However, Google has also run into some high-profile controversies over the past few months. In April, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog publicly questioned the settlement between Google, The Author’s Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) over the search-engine giant's growing digital library. In particular, Consumer Watchdog argued that the settlement, which gave Google the same terms as any theoretical future competitor, deserved to be placed under government review.
Continue reading...Google’s New Scourge Strikes A Nerve
Friday, May 15, 2009
In-your-face watchdog gets advice from Microsoft 'people,' interest from Verizon SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Google Inc. has attracted a number of critics over the years, but the Internet search giant hasn't yet had to deal with any as jarringly adversarial as Consumer Watchdog. "Their tactics tend to be more confrontational than others'," said Tim Little, executive director of the Rose Foundation, an Oakland, Calif.-based organization that funds Consumer Watchdog. "But sometimes there's a place for folks being confrontational."
Continue reading...Google Openness Is A Closed Door — Open Source Versus An Open Mind
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
When Google meets with Congressional staffers, hoping to convince US lawmakers that it's nothing but good for the world, the web giant likes to say that it believes in openness. "Open is better than closed, "the company says. Open "enhances competition" and "encourages innovation." But if you ask the company to discuss its openness, it's not too open about it. Late last week, the consumer watchdog known only as Consumer Watchdog uncovered the canned pitch that Google recently launched at Capitol Hill in an effort to re-spin itself.
Continue reading...Is Google Insurmountable?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
After Google unveiled new features to its search results yesterday, one analyst is saying that the company’s leadership position has become virtually unshakable. Google’s name is increasingly coming up in antitrust discussions, and there are signs that regulators are considering whether it is a monopoly. A presentation outlining reasons Google is not monopolistic surfaced on Consumer Watchdog last week.
Continue reading...Google Presentation On “Google, Competition and Openness” Shared With Justice Department And Myths Debunked By Consumer Watchdog
Friday, May 8, 2009
Washington, DC -- Consumer Watchdog has sent to the U.S. Justice Department a Google document presenting the best corporate arguments for why Google should not be viewed as monopolistic, along with a duplicate of the presentation marked up with comments from an expert countering the claims. The nonprofit consumer group received both documents from an anonymous industry insider.
Continue reading...ConsumerWatchdog.org: Leaked Google Presentation Meant To Counter Fed Inquiries On Competition
Friday, May 8, 2009
Is Google a monopoly? That question, which is increasingly gaining the attention of regulators in Washington, D.C., is also the subject of an intense public relations war between Google and detractors. Today, a new front was opened up, after a consumer advocacy group released a copy of a Google presentation on Google's business practices, along with critical commentary that casts doubt on Google's claims that it supports competition. The group, ConsumerWatchdog.org, said that the Google presentation is part of a campaign to counter federal inquiries into potentially anticompetitive practices.
Continue reading...Google Pro-Openness Campaign Meets Opposition
Friday, May 8, 2009
Google has launched a wide-ranging campaign highlighting its "competition and openness," meeting with everyone from policymakers to media in order to convince them of its anti-monopolistic intentions. Certain consumer-advocacy organizations, however, do not have a warm and fuzzy feeling about Google’s motives. In a May 8 news release, nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog described sending the U.S. Justice Department a copy of a document that Google had been using to back its anti-monopolistic claims; the nonprofit group had taken the liberty of marking the document up with comments.
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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