Google to tweak practices
to end search probe
By: Elizabeth Wasserman
December 15, 2012 05:27 PM
EST
Federal regulators may end
a two-year antitrust probe of Google’s search business by letting the company
make voluntary changes, such as limiting use of restaurant and travel reviews
from other websites and letting search ad campaigns be easily ported to rival
search services, two sources with knowledge of the case told POLITICO.
The FTC is also preparing
to enter into a settlement with Google on a related case over how the company
uses its acquired stockpile of patents against competitors, as POLITICO reported
last week. Under the patent agreement, Google will curtail using key patents it
picked up when it purchased Motorola Mobility to block competitors infringing
those patents from getting their products to the market, although there are
exceptions, sources said.
By allowing Google to
voluntarily address some complaints about use of its dominant search and search
advertising businesses, the company would avoid a consent decree that could be
enforced by the FTC over time. That is sure to upset Google critics and
complainants, who will see it as more of a slap on the wrist.
However, the FTC does have
authority to pursue cases against companies that violate their own stated
policies.
Google declined to comment
on details of the case. “We continue to work cooperatively with the Federal
Trade Commission and are happy to answer any questions they may have,” Google
spokesman Adam Kovacevich would only say Saturday.
The FTC also declined
comment.
There has been intense
lobbying on the Hill and elsewhere in Washington as the case has neared its
close, with some parties maintaining that the negotiations are still fluid and
the commission has not yet voted. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz has said he
expected the probe to be wrapped up before the end of the year and Commissioner
Julie Brill confirmed that timetable during a POLITICO Pro event Thursday.
Google is said to be
preparing an announcement possibly as soon as next week about new practices
regarding the use of “snippets” of user reviews for products, lodgings,
restaurants and other categories for a series of related search services Google
runs in areas ranging from travel to local services to shopping. That has been
one of the key complaints from companies such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, which
have protested to Google that it is using their content without permission.
Google last year stopped using some reviews from companies that objected.
Google will also pledge to
change the terms and conditions for use of information created when users or
third-party advertisers input data into Google’s Ad Words program when
purchasing keyword ad campaigns, allowing more portability of this information
for comparison to rival search sites, sources said. Microsoft’s Bing search
engine had been concerned that Google’s terms made it for more costly and time
consuming for advertisers and agencies to price keyword campaigns on rival
sites.
In the patent case, Google
is expected to agree to license its patents that are part of industry
standards. These patents have been litigated around the world with companies
such as Microsoft and Apple. Not making this sort of broad agreement had made
Google an outlier in the industry.
However, the Google patent
settlement is said to provide Google an out that will allow it to continue
blocking products in court actions, in certain circumstances. For example,
Google might want exceptions when a potential licensee is not willing to
license the patent according to the fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory
terms Google has offered. Potential licensees may have to meet certain
requirements and go through a process such as arbitration. Failure to do so
could result in Google being allowed to pursue injunctions, sources said last
week.
Europe is also looking at
Google over both patent and search. It is unclear how the FTC’s resolution will
affect those investigations. Likewise, some state attorneys general have also
looked into Google’s search and have reportedly been frustrated by not being
part of the FTC’s negotiations with Google.
Michelle Quinn contributed
to this report.
This article first
appeared on POLITICO Pro at 1:44 p.m. on December 15, 2012.
© 2012 POLITICO LLC
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