Google is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission, the tech titan said Friday morning.
But just what the FTC is investigating, Google said, isn’t yet clear to the maker of both the world’s leading search engine and smart-phone operating system, Android.
“It’s still unclear exactly what the FTC’s concerns are, but we’re clear about where we stand,” Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow, said in a company blog post.
The FTC isn’t the only government agency looking into Google’s business practices. According to Reuters, the attorneys general of California, Ohio and New York are in the early stages of probing whether Google has used its leading share in the search and online-advertising markets to fight off rivals.
Reports of the FTC considering a deeper look into Google’s business have been out as far back asApril.
Singhal, in his post, said Google will keep running itself amid the investigations.
“We aim to provide relevant answers as quickly as possible — and our product innovation and engineering talent have delivered results that users seem to like, in a world where the competition is only one click away,” he said. “Still, we recognize that our success has led to greater scrutiny.
“Yesterday, we received formal notification from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it has begun a review of our business. We respect the FTC’s process and will be working with them (as we have with other agencies) over the coming months to answer questions about Google and our services.”
Singhal also emphasized that Google, despite its dominance, is not forcing anyone to use its products and services.
“Search helps you go anywhere and discover anything, on an open Internet,” he said. “Using Google is a choice — and there are lots of other choices available to you for getting information: other general-interest search engines, specialized search engines, direct navigation to websites, mobile applications, social networks, and more.”
