17 votes

Coalition of fifty US attorneys general launch antitrust investigation into Google

7 comments

  1. [2]
    moocow1452
    Link
    I get California, but why is Alabama sitting this one out?

    I get California, but why is Alabama sitting this one out?

    2 votes
    1. Deimos
      Link Parent
      I was trying to figure that out yesterday too and couldn't find much of anything. Every article that tried to get a comment from the Alabama AG's office either got no response, or no comment as...

      I was trying to figure that out yesterday too and couldn't find much of anything. Every article that tried to get a comment from the Alabama AG's office either got no response, or no comment as far as I could find.

      This FastCompany article mentions that it might have something to do with a major data center Google is building there, but it's just speculation:

      As for Alabama, Google recently broke ground on a $600 million data center in Jackson County that is expected to hire as many as 100 full-time workers, though it’s just one part of a massive $13 billion investment in new data center operations in at least eight states across the country.

      3 votes
  2. [5]
    thejumpingbulldog
    Link
    While it doesn't seem like too much, I am interested in seeing what they turn up, especially in the realm of tailoring/filtering search results. Overall, this must bring even further bad news to...

    While it doesn't seem like too much, I am interested in seeing what they turn up, especially in the realm of tailoring/filtering search results. Overall, this must bring even further bad news to Google, who really has seemed to be stalling lately, and from what I heard is severely losing market dominance to companies like Facebook and Amazon. I am hoping that this investigation may expand into Facebook as well.

    1 vote
    1. [4]
      skybrian
      Link Parent
      Hmm, which market do you mean? Advertising? Google's financial results were good last quarter (ending June 30). If there's weakness, it doesn't seem to have hurt them financially yet.

      Hmm, which market do you mean? Advertising?

      Google's financial results were good last quarter (ending June 30). If there's weakness, it doesn't seem to have hurt them financially yet.

      6 votes
      1. [3]
        thejumpingbulldog
        Link Parent
        Kind of, they are losing out to facebook and social media in that game. Not wholesale, but enough to I imagine to be a thorn at their side. As well I also know they seriously missed the boat on...

        Kind of, they are losing out to facebook and social media in that game. Not wholesale, but enough to I imagine to be a thorn at their side. As well I also know they seriously missed the boat on the whole cloud services train that Amazon has been riding with AWS.

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          skybrian
          Link Parent
          Yes, they lost completely to Facebook after an all-out effort. And they seem to be a solid third in cloud services due to stiff competition and starting late. So I see what you mean, but it seems...

          Yes, they lost completely to Facebook after an all-out effort. And they seem to be a solid third in cloud services due to stiff competition and starting late.

          So I see what you mean, but it seems to me like this isn't losing market dominance? It's more like their expansion into new markets where they were never dominant was blocked.

          1 vote
          1. thejumpingbulldog
            Link Parent
            I see where you come from. I wonder what would happen if Google was found to violate antitrust laws.

            I see where you come from. I wonder what would happen if Google was found to violate antitrust laws.