Inside Google

Ex-Googler’s New White House Job Rankles Some

Amy Schatz

Andrew McLaughlin’s departure from Google to the Obama administration
has prompted a little grumbling among some consumer advocates and the
search giant’s corporate foes. “We do not object to Mr. McLaughlin’s appointment because he is
associated with Google per se. The problem is that he has been a
lobbyist for the biggest digital marketing company in the world, and we
believe no special-interest connected person should assume a position
of vital importance to the country’s future,” wrote John M. Simpson,
founder of Consumer Watchdog, and Jeffrey Chester, founder of the
Center for Digital Democracy.

Google’s influence grows in the W.H.

Chris Frates

Consumer groups urged the White House on Wednesday to back off its
reported pick for deputy chief technology officer because he was listed
as a registered lobbyist for Google. Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy said Andrew
McLaughlin, the head of Google’s global public policy, would break
President Barack Obama’s executive order barring lobbyists from serving
in policy areas they lobbied in the previous two years.

Press Release

Google’s Former Policy Exec Faces Objections To Appointment As Deputy CTO

CONTACT: Thomas Claburn

Two consumer groups object to Andrew McLaughlin’s potential appointment, saying it would violate President Obama’s ethics guidelines.

Andrew McLaughlin is slated to become the new deputy CTO, under federal
CTO Aneesh Chopra, according to a New York Times report citing two
unnamed sources. Google has acknowledged McLaughlin’s departure, but not his
destination. The White House has not yet announced plans to appoint
McLaughlin. Nonetheless, the Center for Digital Democracy and Consumer Watchdog on
Wednesday asked President Obama in a letter not to complete the rumored
pending appointment because doing so would violate the President’s
ethics guidelines.

Critics Rip Obama’s Proposed Google Pick

Roy Mark

As rumors swirl that President Obama plans to appoint Google’s Andrew McLaughlin as White House deputy chief technology officer, consumer watchdogs bay over possible ethics violations. "Mr. McLaughlin is very good at what he does — lobbying around the
world for Google’s interests," said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate
at  Consumer Watchdog. "That’s not what this job requires. It should
not go to any person whose most recent position has been advocating
policy for a technology company."

Obama’s Rumored Tech Pick Panned

Andrew Noyes

A pair of watchdogs on Wednesday urged the White House not halt the
pending appointment of Google’s top global public policy executive to
the position of deputy chief technology officer under CTO Aneesh
Chopra, saying it would violate the intent of President Obama’s ethics
rules. Although the choice of Google’s Andrew McLaughlin for the
position has been widely reported, it has yet to be announced.

Opposing Obama’s Deputy CTO Pick

Allan Holmes

Two consumer groups have lined up to oppose President Obama’s pending appointment
of Google’s Andrew McLaughlin as deputy chief technology officer in the
White House. In a letter to Obama, John Simpson, consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog (formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights), and Jeffery Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy,
said McLaughlin’s position as Google’s director of global public policy
violates the intent of the president’s ethics rules to stop the
revolving door between lobbyists and the executive branch.

Google Updates PageRank, Rolls Out Web Elements

Nicholas Kolakowski

However, Google has also run into some high-profile controversies over
the past few months. In April, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Consumer
Watchdog publicly questioned the settlement between Google, The Author’s Guild
and the Association of American Publishers
(AAP) over the search-engine giant’s growing
digital library. In particular, Consumer Watchdog argued that the settlement, which gave
Google the same terms as any theoretical future competitor, deserved to be
placed under government review.

Press Release

Google University of Michigan Sign Digital Library Oversight Agreement

CONTACT: Staff Writers

Google attracted more negative attention than perhaps it bargained for
with its goal to digitize the world’s libraries. In April 2009, a
nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, Consumer Watchdog, wrote a
letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking the government to
examine the settlement between Google, The Author’s Guild, and the
Association of American Publishers (AAP). That settlement, Consumer Watchdog argued, deserved to be placed under
government review because it gave Google the same financial terms of
digital-book rights as any future competitor.

Press Release

Google’s New Scourge Strikes A Nerve

CONTACT: John Letzing

In-your-face watchdog gets advice from Microsoft ‘people,’ interest from Verizon

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Google Inc. has attracted a number of
critics over the years, but the Internet search giant hasn’t yet had to
deal with any as jarringly adversarial as Consumer Watchdog. "Their tactics tend to be more confrontational than others’," said Tim
Little, executive director of the Rose Foundation, an Oakland,
Calif.-based organization that funds Consumer Watchdog. "But sometimes
there’s a place for folks being confrontational."

Google Openness Is A Closed Door — Open Source Versus An Open Mind

Cade Metz

When Google meets with Congressional staffers, hoping to convince US lawmakers that it’s nothing but good for the world, the web giant likes to say that it believes in openness. "Open is better than closed, “the company says. Open "enhances competition" and "encourages innovation.” But if you ask the company to discuss its openness, it’s not too open about it. Late last week, the consumer watchdog known only as Consumer Watchdog
uncovered the canned pitch that Google recently launched at Capitol Hill in an effort to re-spin itself.