Federal Trade Commission officials are unsure if they have enough evidence to successfully sue Google under antitrust laws for giving its own services top billing and pushing down the offerings of rivals, three people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Regulators are also looking at whether the ranking system's benefits to consumers outweigh any harm suffered by rivals. The agency is under pressure to exact concessions from Google after winning a battle with the Justice Department's antitrust division over which regulator would probe the search engine.
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz told Google to propose a resolution to a host of antitrust concerns in the coming days or face a lawsuit, two people familiar with the matter said last week. The issues include Google's exclusive agreement to provide services to online publishers and allegedly misusing patents to try and block rivals' smartphones from coming to market. The FTC is also treating serious complaints that Google has used consumer reviews from other websites without permission, according to the article. A final vote by the agency's five commissioners on whether to file a lawsuit and what its scope should be, is expected before the end of the month, the people said.
Separately, the European Union, now in settlement talks with Google over antitrust concerns, is pressing the company to make changes to its search practices. Google is putting its own restaurant reviews, maps and shopping services at the top of the results page and the top three results garner 88 percent of users' clicks, according to Fairsearch.org. The group began an internet and print-ad campaign 19 November featuring web entrepreneurs complaining about Google's search practices. Google's argument, made public by Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, is that its rankings help consumers who seek the best answer to a query rather than links to other information sources, the article said.
