FairSearch.org on Google Revelations: Consumer Harm Spelled Out in Black and White

Washington, D.C. — Today, Matt Reilly, a former top Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust litigator and legal counsel to FairSearch.org in the United States, pointed to new revelations about Google’s abusive practices in an FTC report that surfaced today in a Wall Street Journal report.

The report, prepared by FTC career staff, recommended that the FTC file a complaint against Google for multiple violations of antitrust law.  The report concluded that “[Google’s behavior] helped it to maintain, preserve and enhance Google’s monopoly position in the markets for search and search advertising.”

Reilly said:
“The FTC report contains stunning new revelations about how Google abuses its dominant position in the market. The report confirms the ongoing consumer harm that FairSearch.org and other interested parties have long warned about, and debunks Google’s repeated claim that the FTC found no evidence of wrongdoing or harm once and for all. Our government has an obligation to address this injustice.”
Fairsearch.org has meticulously detailed Google’s pattern of abusing its dominant market power by deceiving markets and consumers that its ecosystem is truly “open.” Its interactive guide, The Google Playbook:  Open, Dominate, Close, is available at www.FairSearch.org.

FairSearch.org is a group of businesses and organizations united to promote economic growth, innovation and choice across the Internet ecosystem by fostering and defending competition in online and mobile search. We believe in enforcement of existing laws to prevent anticompetitive behavior that harms consumers.

For more information or to arrange an interview with Matt Reilly, legal counsel to the Fairsearch.org coalition, please contact Dan Wilson at dwilson@mercuryllc.com.

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