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Google sees an Internet far more crowded with competitors than just a year ago. At least, that’s what the company is telling government regulators. Critics of Google’s dominance in search — Americans use Google for
about two thirds of U.S. searches, and the company has more than 70
percent of U.S. search advertising revenue, and about 90 percent in
Europe — say the expanded list of competitors is an attempt by Google
to paper over its dominance. "I think they are feeling the heat from several serious antitrust
investigations, and that’s reflected in the language they are using in
the 10-K," said John Simpson, of Consumer Watchdog. He argued in a
recent blog post that Google’s statements that it has many competitors
actually proves that "the opposite is actually true" and that "the real
risk to Google’s business is not from competition," but that regulators
in the U.S. and Europe "will act in the interest of consumers and force
the Internet giant to engage" in competition.

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Thirteen years in the House and a stint as majority leader have furnished Rep.Roy Blunt, R-Mo., with useful GOP and K Street support for his Senate bid. But Blunt’s long resume also means a boost from another source: Google. Google’s overwhelming dominance of the search market has brought its
power to determine marketplace outcomes under new scrutiny this year.
Tech company Foundem and other so-called "search neutrality" advocates
allege that the search engine is gaining an unfair advantage by
favoring its own products in searches. The advocacy group Consumer
Watchdog wrote the Justice Department last week urging it to
investigate the issue, while the European Commission is already
checking out complaints from Foundem and others.

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Earlier this month, the shopping comparison search engine myTriggers brought an antitrust action against Google, alleging that the search giant unfairly lowered myTriggers’ quality score. This
afternoon, the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog piled on. Consumer Watchdog
called for the Department of Justice to investigate whether Google "is
manipulating" search results by returning its own sites high in the
search results.

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