News Clipping
John Simpson, a researcher for the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog who was the first to raise questions about McLaughlin’s appointment to the White House, said Google’s bumbling intellectual persona in Washington is just an act.
News Clipping
The announcement drew an immediate response from a nonprofit consumer-advocacy organization, Consumer Watchdog. The group said Google’s motives in releasing the report were driven by “its attempts to quell worldwide outrage over the WiSpy scandal” and that this is “classic corporate PR spin to divert justified criticism.”
News Clipping
At least one vocal critic of the company said the report overstates Google’s contributions. The company didn’t generate this economic activity so much as facilitate it, said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. There were other businesses that connected companies with customers before Google was founded 12 years ago, and the report failed to take into account lost revenue and jobs within those industries, notably media and advertising, he said.
News Clipping
Consumer Watchdog said Google’s economic report relies on cooked accounting that only counts benefits while factoring in none of the costs Google places on society.
Press Release
“This is what every big corporation does when they are under fire,” said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate with the nonpartisan, nonprofit group. “They divert attention from their wrongdoing and spin a story about their contributions.”
News Clipping
The data collection could extend to about 30 countries, said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit group that has called on the Federal Trade Commission to probe Google’s actions. Simpson said he has not heard of any state attorneys general taking up the matter yet, but a response by states is likely as people become more aware of the implications. He said there is mounting outrage against the company.
Blog Post
As the WiSpy scandal unfolded last week CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking in England, tried to calm the furor by claiming “no harm, no foul.” This week it’s clear that despite the fondest hopes of those in the Googleplex, the firestorm won’t go away.
News Clipping
Several European countries’ data privacy authorities have launched investigations into Google’s actions. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been asked to investigate Google by the consumer group Consumer Watchdog.
News Clipping
John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog said the deal will undermine competition, and could result in higher prices for advertisers and consumers.
News Clipping
“How this possibly can be construed as promoting competition is incomprehensible,” said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, a strident Google critic. “What it demonstrates is Google’s clout in Washington.”
