Inside Google

FTC Official Says Agency Is Monitoring Google’s Practices

Scott Morrison

“You may well see something soon from the U.S. agencies, but I can’t promise anything,” said Melanie Sabo, Assistant Director for Anticompetitive Practices at the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. Speaking at a Consumer Watchdog conference called “The Future of Online Consumer Protection,” Sabo said her comments reflect her own views and not those of the FTC. The conference, held in Washington, D.C., was webcast over the Internet.

Reback Rehearses for the Case Against Google

Tom Krazit

Gary Reback, an attorney with Carr & Ferrell and a prominent figure in the antitrust trials involving Microsoft, told attendees at Consumer Watchdog’s Future of Online Consumer Protections conference here that the European case, built off complaints by a comparison shopping engine, could demonstrate that Google has improperly penalized specialty search engines in its quest to maintain its leading search engine market share. The refrain is a familiar one among Google critics: that Google’s Universal Search unfairly promotes its own content over that of competitors.

FTC to Release ‘Do Not Track’ Report on Web Privacy

Tom Krazit

David Vladeck, head of the bureau of consumer protection at the FTC, told attendees at Consumer Watchdog’s Future of Online Consumer Protections conference that the agency plans to release the report later this morning that will lay bare the FTC’s commitment to giving U.S. consumers greater choice when it comes to opting out of online tracking. Vladeck declined to get into specifics for fear of upstaging his boss later in the day, but said “we need to reduce the burden on consumers” to monitor how companies are tracking their activities on the Internet for advertising purposes.

Press Release

LIVE BLOG: The Monopoly Question

CONTACT: 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 […]

FTC Endorses “Do Not Track Me,” Calls For A New Privacy Framework

Jamie Court

If you wonder if you are being followed online and if anything can be done about it, take a look at the just-out Federal Trade Commission report on online privacy. A frightening amount of information is available about us online and the Federal Trade Commission has endorsed the notion of a “privacy by design” build-in for […]

Two Agencies Favor Do Not Track Option to Protect Web User Privacy

Aliya Sternstein

Weitzner spoke at a conference on the future of online consumer protections that the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog hosted. Marketers have created a lucrative business by collecting detailed data on Internet users’ behaviors and backgrounds, including estimates of income and family composition, to compile consumer profiles for corporate clients. Do Not Track “is the perfect illustration for a robust stakeholder process to develop voluntary but enforceable codes of conduct,” Weitzner added.

LIVE BLOG: Do Not Track, The Browser Solution

Jefferson Morley

In the first session of CW conference on online consumer protection, panelist Chris Soghoian, a privacy technologist, identified one key to the success of “Do Not Track” legislation: a browser-based solution. “Remember almost all browsers are supported by ad networks,” Soghoian reminded the audience at the National Press Club. “Internet Explorer was created by Microsoft […]

LIVE BLOG: Notes on David Vladeck’s preview of the FTC report on online privacy

Jamie Court

The FTC missed its deadline for posting its online privacy report online due to "technical problems"… Anti-trust panel going strong.   Watch live here http://www.visualwebcaster.com/consumerwatchdog   We had the first words on the report earlier at Consumer Watchdog's conference on the future of online consumer protection.    Report just came online about an hour late, a […]

Microsoft’s Old Nemesis, Gary Reback, to Address Antitrust Probe of Google

Byron Acohido

Last April, Consumer Watchdog published this report, titled Traffic Report: How Google Is Squeezing Out Competitors and Muscling Into New Markets. The group formally asked the Justice Department to launch an antitrust probe of the search giant. But the European Commission beat their U.S. counterparts to the punch. “I welcome the European action, but Google is a U.S. Company and it’s long past time for our authorities to launch an investigation,” says Consumer Watchdog spokesman John Simpson.

Google Faces EU Antitrust Investigation Over Search

Clint Boulton

Google watchdogs for the Consumer Watchdog praised the Commission’s move but lamented the lack of such scrutiny of the search engine in the U.S. “It’s long been clear that Google unfairly uses its dominance in search to benefit its own services,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Inside Google project. “I’m pleased with the European announcement, but this is a U.S. company and it is past time for our authorities to act decisively.”