The Attorneys General are going after the ad and shopping business but the Federales should also address search results. Maybe a warning label: "These results are not reality, they are what we choose to show you".
Or make the search index a public utility.
From CNBC, May 15, 2020, 5:07 PM EDT
- The U.S. Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general are likely to file lawsuits against Alphabet’s Google in coming months, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
- Both probes have focused on Google’s advertising business, but could be even broader in scope.
- The news suggests the enforcers have not let up during the coronavirus pandemic that has sent much of their staff into new remote set-ups.
Google will likely face at least one antitrust lawsuit related to its advertising business from both the U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general in coming months, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Shares of Google parent Alphabet dropped sharply on the news, down as much as 3% after-hours.
The DOJ is aiming to file a case as soon as this summer, according to the report. At least some of the state attorneys general involved in the multistate probe led by Texas are likely to file suit in the fall, the Journal reported.....MORE
The DOJ declined to comment. A spokesperson for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declined to comment on the Journal report.
A Google spokesperson said in a statement: “We continue to engage with the ongoing investigations led by the Department of Justice and Attorney General Paxton, and we don’t have any updates or comments on speculation. Our focus is firmly on providing services that help consumers, support thousands of businesses, and enable increased choice and competition.”....
