Google’s Search Engine Doesn’t Violate Antitrust Laws, Supporters Say

Google said on its blog last week that a rumored Facebook search engine would pose a threat to Google, implying that this means there is a competitive search market. Quoting news reports and op-eds, the post presents the idea that “Facebook’s Move Into Search Is ‘Not Surprising’; ‘Over Time, [Facebook and Google] Are Going to Be Directly Competing in Pretty Much Every Area.'” When asked for comment on Thursday’s event sponsored by the FairSearch group of companies concerned about what they say is Google’s Internet search dominance, Google Director of Competition Policy Adam Kovacevich pointed to a company blog post. It was written when the FTC investigation was announced last year (http://xrl.us/bnp6um). Google’s “confident that its principles of putting the user first, providing information fast, clearly labeling advertisements, being transparent and allowing customers to take their information and leave will “stand up to scrutiny,” the post said. “We're committed to giving you choices, ensuring that businesses can grow and create jobs, and, ultimately, fostering an Internet that benefits us all.” Kovacevich, from the audience at the event, corrected a panelist on the company’s requirements of smartphone makers using the Android operating system.

Kovacevich also pointed to a recent development in Brazil, where a shopping search engine lost its case against Google. The Brazilian company claimed Google was using its market share to disadvantage other shopping comparison services in favor of Google’s shopping search vertical. A Search Engine Land (http://xrl.us/bnp6vc) report said the court ruled that Google doesn’t have a monopoly on search and can display search results as it sees fit.

Internet companies could regret calling on U.S. intervention on Google, said National Taxpayer’s Union spokesman Doug Kellog on the group’s site. “It is certainly scary that Microsoft, Expedia and other FairSearch.org partners are sponsoring an effort to internationalize the U.S. antitrust laws and unleash government on the Internet (and Google’s only the first step), all because they can’t understand market competition,” he wrote. “It’s no small thing to let the government in on an issue like this,” he told us. “Once they let government in, who knows what it will do.” There’s reason to be concerned about government intervention, he said, citing former FTC commissioner Pamela Jones’ comments at the event as one example of evidence that “there is an appetite on the part of the government to expand its role in this field."

The argument against Google “isn’t that focused,” Kellog told us. The company’s opponents criticize Google for things that are irrelevant to whether it violates antitrust laws, he said. Many panelists at last week’s FairSearch event noted privacy concerns, “which really should have no bearing on the FTC investigation,” Kellog said. The NTU sent two representatives to the event, according to Kellog, one of whom was asked to leave after she attempted to distribute NTU poll before the event began. The poll from earlier this year found Americans are satisfied with the online search market (http://xrl.us/bnp6wm). In May, the NTU published an open letter to the FTC signed by 101 economists discouraging the agency from interfering with Google (http://xrl.us/bnp6r5).