The concerns set forth by Microsoft, Consumer Watchdog, and other observers go beyond whether Google gives unfair prominence in search rankings to paid advertisers. Critiques range from "A company such a Google could abuse its search dominance" to "Google is already abusing its search dominance" to push its other revenue-generating services -- such as maps, video, and shopping searches -- at the expense of competitors.
Continue reading...Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Consumer Watchdog said it obtained three years of Internet traffic from the Web metrics firm Experian Hitwise to analyze Web traffic to Google's other services. It claims that it shows Google's search results favor its services over competitors, a claim Google has repeatedly denied.
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Consumer Watchdog today called on the state attorneys general to investigate Google’s WiSpy snooping in their respective states to determine what state laws were broken.
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The report drew mixed reactions yesterday. The nonprofit Consumer Watchdog organization dismissed it as hype based on "cooked accounting" that counts benefits, but doesn't consider the impact on some content providers and competitors who suffer from Google's "monopolistic control of search."
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The announcement drew an immediate response from a nonprofit consumer-advocacy organization, Consumer Watchdog. The group said Google's motives in releasing the report were driven by "its attempts to quell worldwide outrage over the WiSpy scandal" and that this is "classic corporate PR spin to divert justified criticism."
Continue reading...Tuesday, May 25, 2010
At least one vocal critic of the company said the report overstates Google's contributions. The company didn't generate this economic activity so much as facilitate it, said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog. There were other businesses that connected companies with customers before Google was founded 12 years ago, and the report failed to take into account lost revenue and jobs within those industries, notably media and advertising, he said.
Continue reading...Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Consumer Watchdog said Google's economic report relies on cooked accounting that only counts benefits while factoring in none of the costs Google places on society.
Continue reading...Tuesday, May 25, 2010
“This is what every big corporation does when they are under fire,” said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate with the nonpartisan, nonprofit group. “They divert attention from their wrongdoing and spin a story about their contributions.”
Continue reading...Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Consumer Watchdog today formally launched its new Website, Inside Google, to focus attention on the company’s activities and hold Google accountable for its actions. The sites’ URL is http://insidegoogle.com.
Continue reading...Monday, May 17, 2010
Consumer Watchdog today called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch an immediate probe of Google’s snooping on private WiFi networks as the Internet giant sent its Street View cars to gather information.
Continue reading...
Thursday, June 3, 2010
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