Inside Google

Press Release

Consumer Groups Ask FTC To Block Google’s AdMob Deal

CONTACT: John Kell

Two consumer groups asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to block
Google Inc.’s (GOOG) proposed $750 million acquisition of mobile
advertising company AdMob Inc., as they allege the deal would diminish
competition to the detriment of consumers. "Consumers will face higher prices, less innovation and fewer choices,"
said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog. "The
FTC should conduct the appropriate investigation, block the proposed
Google/AdMob deal, and also address the privacy issues."

Press Release

Groups Urge FTC To Block Google’s AdMob Buyout

CONTACT: Owen Fletcher

Two consumer groups urged U.S. regulators on Monday to block Google
from acquiring mobile advertising provider AdMob, citing potential harm
the deal could cause to users, advertisers and application developers. Google’s plan to acquire AdMob for US$750 million, announced last
month, "would substantially lessen competition in the increasingly
important mobile advertising market," said the letter,
signed by representatives of the groups Consumer Watchdog and Center
for Digital Democracy. It was addressed to the Federal Trade
Commission, the regulatory body that Google last week said had asked the company for more information about the deal.

Press Release

Two Consumer Groups Ask FTC To Block Google’s $750 Million Purchase Of AdMob

CONTACT: John M. Simpson 310-292-1902 or Jeffrey Chester 202-494-7100

Deal To Buy Mobile Advertising Company Is Anti-Competitive And Raises Privacy Concerns

WASHINGTON, DC — Two consumer groups today asked the Federal Trade
Commission to block Google’s $750 million deal to buy AdMob, a mobile
advertising company, on anti-trust grounds. In addition, the groups
said, the proposed acquisition raises privacy concerns that the
Commission must address. In a joint letter to the FTC, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for
Digital Democracy (CDD) said Google is simply buying its way to
dominance in the mobile advertising market, diminishing competition to
the detriment of consumers.

Press Release

Consumer Groups Lobby FTC To Block Google’s Acquisition Of AdMob

CONTACT: Leena Rao

Google recently revealed that the Federal Trade Commission was intensely reviewing the search giant’s recent $750 million acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob.  Last week, Google said the FTC has made a second request for further information about the deal. Today, two consumer groups, Consumer Watchdog and the Center For Digital Democracy, have asked the FTC to block the deal on anti-trust grounds and possible privacy issues.

Press Release

Google’s Book-Scan Deal Is Not Solid Yet

CONTACT: Alex Pham

Google Inc.’s settlement with authors and publishers over the digital
scanning of books got a preliminary approval from a federal judge last
week, but the controversy may be far from over. In fact, legal experts and industry observers who have been closely
following the case believe the fight over Google’s ambitious
book-scanning efforts is just starting all over again.

Google Dashboard Is Small Step For User Control, Consumer Watchdog Says

John M. Simpson

Group Calls for ‘Make-Me-Anonymous’ Button On Home Page

SANTA MONICA, CA — The new Google Dashboard touted by the Internet
giant as offering users “transparency, choice and control” of user data
stored by the company doesn’t give consumers adequate control over
protecting their information from Google’s marketing machine, Consumer
Watchdog said today. Consumer Watchdog applauded the company for giving consumers a single
place to go to manage data, but said Google needed to give consumers
the ability to stop being tracked by the company and to delete
information associated with their computer’s IP address from the Google
servers.

Microsoft vs. Google: When It Comes To The Cloud, It’s War

Ian Lamont

"All warfare is based on deception," goes the famous line attributed to Sun Tzu in the Art of War. It may very well be the operating principle that both Google and Microsoft have taken to heart in their battle for dominance of the office desktop and cloud. Case in point: The recent battle between the two companies
to sell office productivity and email services to the city of Los
Angeles. Last month, before the city made a decision, Google downplayed
an attack on the security of its cloud-based offerings by Consumer Watchdog
— but quickly published a "fact check" document to distribute to city
officials to support its claims about reliability and security. According to one report,
Google suggested that Consumer Watchdog was "being paid to target
Google specifically," without publicly naming the party allegedly
paying the group.

Press Release

Authors, Publishers Ask Judge to Postpone Google Book Search Hearing

CONTACT: Clint Boulton

The Author’s Guild and Association of American Publishers in the Google Book Search settlement asked District Court Judge Denny Chin to postpone his fairness hearing on the deal so they can work with Google and the Department of Justice on amending the agreement. Consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog further suggested that
important issues affecting copyright law should not be negotiated
behind closed doors.

Press Release

New Deal Sought In Dispute Over Google Book Plan

CONTACT: Larry Neumeister

Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer advocacy group
that has asked the court to reject the settlement, said in a statement
that key copyright issues should be settled by Congress in a fully
public process. "Essentially Google and the authors and publishers groups are back at
square one and must re-negotiate the deal," said John M. Simpson, a
consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog who was one of eight witnesses
to testify about the deal to the House Judiciary Committee.

Press Release

Google Working To Modify Settlement, Publishers Say

CONTACT: Susan Decker and David Glovin

Google Inc. and groups of authors and publishers are working to modify a $125 million settlement to create a digital library following criticism from parties including the U.S. Justice Department, the groups said. “Google and the authors and publisher groups are back at square one,”
John Simpson, an advocate at Consumer Watchdog, a group in Santa
Monica, California, said in a statement.