Inside Google

Press Release

Google University of Michigan Sign Digital Library Oversight Agreement

CONTACT: Staff Writers

Google attracted more negative attention than perhaps it bargained for
with its goal to digitize the world’s libraries. In April 2009, a
nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, Consumer Watchdog, wrote a
letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking the government to
examine the settlement between Google, The Author’s Guild, and the
Association of American Publishers (AAP). That settlement, Consumer Watchdog argued, deserved to be placed under
government review because it gave Google the same financial terms of
digital-book rights as any future competitor.

Press Release

Google’s New Scourge Strikes A Nerve

CONTACT: John Letzing

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."

Press Release

Is Google Insurmountable?

CONTACT: Andrew LaVallee

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.

Press Release

Google, Intel, Others Face Resurgence in Antitrust Interest, Actions

CONTACT: Erik Sherman

As Google’s gadfly, Consumer Watchdog has noted that the company
developed a presentation trying to argue that antitrust concerns are
unreasonable and unwarranted. Unfortunately for Google, there are times
that PR can do wonders, and times when it can’t. One time it can’t is
when the PR campaign is full of holes, including the following…

Press Release

U. Chicago Law Prof Criticizes Settlement That Could Give Google Monopoly On ‘Orphaned’ Texts

CONTACT: Maria Mauriello

CHICAGO, IL — University of Chicago law professor Randal Picker raised
concerns recently over a court settlement that will grant Google the
exclusive right to publish orphaned texts –- texts which remain under
copyright, but whose copyright holder can’t be identified or found-a
move he felt could give Google a powerful monopoly. A group of professors from Harvard Law School, and the Internet
Archive, have each independently filed motions to intervene in the case
on the grounds of antitrust violations. Several groups, including The
Internet Archive and Consumer Watchdog, have also raised concerns about
the issue to the U.S. Department of Justice, which so far has not
displayed any intention to involve itself in the case.

Press Release

Google Presentation On “Google, Competition and Openness” Shared With Justice Department And Myths Debunked By Consumer Watchdog

CONTACT: John M. Simpson 310 392-0522 ext 317 or Jamie Court ext 327

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.

Press Release

ConsumerWatchdog.org: Leaked Google Presentation Meant To Counter Fed Inquiries On Competition

CONTACT: Ian Lamont

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.

Press Release

Google Pro-Openness Campaign Meets Opposition

CONTACT: Nicholas Kolakowski

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.

Press Release

How the Wolfram Alpha Search Engine Could Save Google

CONTACT: Ryan Singel

You can see a copy of a Google PowerPoint to that effect over at
Silicon Alley Insider, which got it from Consumer Watchdog. That group
had an advertising industry an insider tip them off and give them a
rebuttal.

Press Release

Facing Criticism, Google Tries Buffing Its Image

CONTACT: Stephen Shankland

Google, having dealt with two major antitrust issues 2008 and facing
the potential of more to come, has begun a program to try to spruce up
its image and show that competition is alive and well. Consumer Watchdog on Friday plans to tout a Google presentation titled
Google, Competition, and Openness (PDF) that the advocacy group
uncovered. The company presentation (also embedded below) gives
Google’s views that it faces plenty of competition in a dynamic market.