According to the Wall Street Journal, the Federal Trade Commission has announced the result of an investigation into Google's search practices. The FTC has ruled that Google is not guilty of antitrust or FTC violations:
Will the FTC be monitoring Google's search algorithm for bias? No. Unanimous decision that there was no violation of antitrust laws or FTC regulations. Pretty conclusive. "The facts weren't there", FTC says.
Google stocks were up 1.55% as of 10:33am Eastern Time.
The FTC investigation was settled by Google with few concessions that are expected to have little effect.
Fairsearch.org has called for the FTC to wait until Google submits its formal offer to the European Commission before making an FTC decision. Fairsearch.org is a self-described "group of businesses and organizations united to promote economic growth, innovation and choice across the Internet ecosystem by fostering and defending competition in online and mobile search."
The Washington Post reports that Google's deal with the FTC does not address competitors' concerns over alleged abuse of its position as the leading internet search engine. Rather, Google merely agreed to make it easier for marketers to switch to other online ad services. Google will also scale back its usage of content snippets from rivals such as Yelp. This deal also settles the claim that Google uses industry-standard patents to harm competitors.
Consumer groups warn that without a strict decision against Google, the search giant would continue to skew its search results to favor Google's own services over those of competitors. Today's decision by the FTC is seen as a blow to those who wanted to send a strong message to Google.
