FTC probing: Google is on way to destruction?

By Shahid Abbasi Apr 28th, 2012 ( No Comment )

New York: The Federal Trade Commission has hired a leading prosecutor to lead its investigation into potential anti-trust violations by Google, report David Streitfeld and Edward Wyatt of the New York Times.

The prosecutor Beth Wilkinson has got Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh the death penalty.

Experts tell the Times her hiring sends “a strong signal that the FTC is prepared to take the Internet giant to court.”

”Google has manipulated its search results, making it less likely that competing companies or products appear at the top of a results page,” according to Streitfeld and Wyatt quoted government’s concern.

“The general issue underlying the investigation is whether Google abuses its power in the market for Internet search. Google controls about 66 percent of the United States search market, according to comScore. Microsoft’s Bing accounts for about 15 percent of Internet searches, with Yahoo gathering 14 percent.”

“Lawsuit is just like the government’s anti-trust case against Microsoft in the 1990s. That case, they argue, “transformed the tech industry, reining in its most powerful company and allowing for the rise of new companies like Google.”

“Now Google wields the same sort of power that Microsoft once did, and is under the same sort of scrutiny.”