Google responds to FTC investigation

INTERNET SEARCH GIANT and advertising firm Google has responded to allegations that it is abusing its dominant position in the search advertising business.

Late last week the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had opened an anti-trust investigation of Google over allegations that it makes the most of its behemoth status to favour its own web sites and services over those of competitors, and over the weekend the company responded to those claims.

The FTC will be looking at Google's advertising practices and supposedly anti-competitive practices relating to its search engine. Of course this is not the first time that this sort of thing has troubled the firm, but it is expected to be a significant investigation.

Rivals are arguing that they are losing business to Google, but according to Google, there is nothing malicious behind its growth.

"At Google, we've always focused on putting the user first. We aim to provide relevant answers as quickly as possible-and our product innovation and engineering talent have delivered results that users seem to like, in a world where the competition is only one click away. Still, we recognize that our success has led to greater scrutiny," said Amit Singhal, a Google fellow.

"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."

According to Singh the investigation is something of a mystery for Google. He said, "It's still unclear exactly what the FTC's concerns are, but we're clear about where we stand".

Where Google stands, he explained, is behind users, "If we focus on the user, all else will follow," he said. "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."

These tools all add up to an open internet, according to the post, and Google is just one part of that. We'll see what the FTC makes of that. µ