Google on Friday acknowledged that a federal antitrust and consumer protection agency is investigating its business practices.
The company let the world know through its public policy blog.
A Federal Trade Commission spokesperson on Friday confirmed that the agency is investigating Google.
Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow wrote in the blog post:
We respect the FTC’s process and will be working with them (as we have with other agencies) over the coming months to answer questions about Google and our services.
It’s still unclear exactly what the FTC’s concerns are, but we’re clear about where we stand. Since the beginning, we have been guided by the idea that, if we focus on the user, all else will follow. No matter what you’re looking for–buying a movie ticket, finding the best burger nearby, or watching a royal wedding–we want to get you the information you want as quickly as possible. Sometimes the best result is a link to another website. Other times it’s a news article, sports score, stock quote, a video or a map.
He noted that using Google is a choice — a point that Google’s founders have made repeatedly from the search engine company’s early days when confronted by people worried about the company’s influence.
Singhal said that the company’s principles are guided by users’ interests, a drive to fetch information for them as quickly as possible, promoting user loyalty, and transparency.
It linked to a micro-site entitled “Facts about Google and Competition” to further explain search, its ad policy and how it tries to make itself transparent to businesses on the internet.
Google’s competitors have been banging on the doors of antitrust enforcement authorities both in Washington, D.C., and Brussels for years.
For a comprehensive timeline of antitrust inquiries into Google, there’s no better resource than this list compiled by search expert Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land.
