Why Google's Display Ad Business Drew FTC Antitrust Probe 50
First time accepted submitter jahard writes "It's not clear yet whether the preliminary look will result in anything more. The FTC and the Justice Department don't investigate behemoths like Google on a lark, so there's at least a decent chance they'll find reason to look deeper. But according to several online ad sources, the evidence is mixed, and some–even at least one competitor–say Google is playing fair with its so-called 'stack' of ad technologies. Contacted for comment, Google provided only a terse statement: 'We have not heard anything from the FTC regarding any new antitrust investigation.'"
legal/political to english translator: (Score:2, Informative)
"we are opening an investigation into your business practices subject to section 123 subsection 456 of the xyz act"
translation:
"your competitors are bigger donors and don't like you!"
I've been waiting for this (Score:2, Informative)
I've thought for a long time google isn't following the law with regard to how clearly advertisements have to be marked.
A yellow box barely visible on a cheap LCD, and some tiny text "ads" isn't good enough to pass muster under my interpretation of advertising law.
12 months ago this article was published on search engine land:
In 2002, the US Federal Trade Commission created guidelines on how search engines should disclose paid placement and paid inclusion listings. It’s become clear to me over the past two weeks that the search engine industry has either largely forgotten these guidelines or is ignoring them. That’s why I’ve written a letter today to the FTC asking that the agency conduct a compliance review, as well as a review to see if its guidelines should be updated. My letter is below.
http://searchengineland.com/a-letter-to-the-ftc-regarding-search-engine-disclosure-124169