Inside Google

Tech’s Star CEOs Could Be Drag On Obama

Carla Marinucci

Jamie Court, who heads Consumer Watchdog, said it’s clear the Silicon Valley’s tech executives have cultivated a “hoodie and Converse” profile to mask what he says is a traditional corporate adherence to bottom-line profit concerns.

Google Defends Practices As FTC Launches Antitrust Probe

Josh Smith

Google confirmed Friday that the Federal Trade Commission has launched an antitrust investigation of the company, but posted an elaborate defense of its business practices. “Yesterday, we received formal notification from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it has begun a review of our business,” Google said in a blog post. “We respect the FTC’s […]

Consumer Group Says White House Is Too Friendly With Google

Gautham Nagesh

Frequent Google critic Consumer Watchdog wrote to the White House Counsel on Friday arguing that President Obama and other administration officials must distance themselves from Google during pending federal investigations of the search giant.

Group Slams White House Google Links

Staff Writers

A consumer group says the White House must distance itself from Google while the company is the subject of a federal antitrust investigation.

ENGINE KNOCK – Feds launch antitrust probe into Google’s market influence

Carl Franzen

Google “pretty clearly is using its dominant position to its own advantage,” said John Simpson, spokesman for Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit advocacy organization that has called for an investigation into Google’s practices for the past two years.

W.H. Warned To Distance From Google

Kim Hart

Consumer Watchdog is telling the White House that its cozy relationship with Google is inappropriate, given ongoing reviews by both the FTC and the Department of Justice.

Google’s Top Execs Refuse To Testify At Senate Hearing

Byron Acohido

Consumer Watchdog has been clamoring for Schmidt’s sworn testimony before Congress for over a year, ever since Germany caught Google harvesting private Wi-Fi data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks in homes and businesses across the globe. Google had dispatched fleets of specially equipped cars through city streets in 30-plus nations to gather this data.

Google’s Dominance Draws New Scrutiny From Regulators

Jia Lynn Yang

“They’re somewhat disingenuous when they say we’re trying to provide a neutral search and all we care about is our users,” said John Simpson at Consumer Watchdog. “What they really care about is selling their users to advertisers. That’s how they make their money.”

Consumer Watchdog Asks White House Counsel To Rule That Administration Must Distance Itself From Google During Probes

John M. Simpson

WASHINGTON, DC — Consumer Watchdog has asked the White House Counsel to rule that President Obama and other members of the Administration must distance themselves from Google while the company is the target of serious federal investigations, including a criminal probe into allegations the search giant profited from selling online ads to illegal pharmacies.

Press Release

FTC targets Google for antitrust probe

CONTACT: 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.