FTC leans on Google over antitrust

UNITED STATES TRADE REGULATOR the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is leaning on Google over antitrust issues and is expected to come up with a settlement proposal soon.

Bloomberg reports that sources close to the discussions say that Google has come under pressure to make a settlement decision. However, Google has not confirmed that.

"We continue to work cooperatively with the Federal Trade Commission and are happy to answer any questions they may have," said Adam Kovacevich, a spokesman for Google.

The FTC and Google have been dancing for some time, and Google has always told us that it is happy to work with the FTC and answer any questions it might have.

The FTC is concerned that Google might be abusing its position in the internet search market to place more emphasis on its own products than those of its rivals, and has been mulling this issue for almost two years.

According to Bloomberg things are trotting along nicely at the moment, but its sources reckon that if Google doesn't agree to some sort of settlement soon then a lawsuit might be filed.

It said this could happen within the next couple of days. µ