
Behind Google's Antitrust Escape - kjhughes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689604578221971197494496.html
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zmmmmm
> The FTC's decision also shows how anti-Google lobbying from rivals like
> Microsoft Corp. MSFT -1.87% had little effect.

They managed to initiate and sustain an 18 month FTC investigation into
someone who did nothing wrong, generating a mountain of FUD and anti-PR along
the way. It sounds to me like their lobbying had a pretty big effect.

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jfb
Much more interesting and important was the FRAND settlement wrt the Motorola
Mobility patent portfolio.

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kjhughes
Perhaps, but besides Google agreeing to provide reasonable access to those
Motorola wireless patents that are standards based, other highlights include:

1\. The FTC found little or no evidence of search bias toward Google's own
products;

2\. Google agreed to refrain from scraping content such as restaurant reviews;

3\. Google agreed not to penalize websites in search rankings if the site opts
out of Google's verticals (e.g. shopping);

4\. Google agreed to give advertisers more flexible access to its AdWords
platform.

