It has been revealed that the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is conduction an investigation of Google over complaints of antitrust and anti-competitive behavior, and the search giant is responding.
According to Search Engine Land, the state of Texas’ investigation is focused on whether Google manipulates its search results to the detriment of its competition. The investigation was sparked by complaints from vertical search engines Foundem, SourceTool/TradeComet and myTriggers. While none of these companies operate out of the state of Texas, they only need customers in the state to help spark an investigation.
Google has since responded to the report via a blog post from Deputy General Counsel Don Harrison. In it, Harrison addresses the questions about the “fairness” of the Google search engine while providing background on Foundem, SourceTool/TradeComet and MyTriggers. This background refutes each company’s argument that Google is engaging in anticompetitive behavior.
“We look forward to answering their questions because we’re confident that Google operates in the best interests of our users,” Harrison said in the company’s response.
Google is facing a similar investigation from the European Commission over whether it manipulates search results to stifle competition.
What do you think of the investigation? Do you think Google is engaging in antitrust behavior, or is this smoke and mirrors? Let us know in the comments.
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GoogleMore About: Antitrust, Google, investigation, privacy, texas
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This week’s
Web Faceoff between
Skype and Google Voice came down to the wire.
Last week, Google stepped onto Skype’s turf with the launch of Google Voice integration in Gmail. Since its launch, Gmail users have made over 10 million calls through the new Google Voice integration.
Is Google Voice a threat to Skype’s longstanding dominance? On Monday we asked you, the readers, to choose which voice service you preferred. After the closest vote in the history of the Web Faceoff…
…Google Voice is the winner by just 20 votes. With 1,438 votes (42.87%), Google’s voice service beat Skype’s 1,418 tallies (42.28%). That’s barely more than a half-percent difference. 498 of you (14.85%) voted that it was a tie.
One of the big issues with Google Voice many commenters pointed out was that it’s only available in the U.S., while Skype is worldwide. Perhaps this is a debate we’ll have to revisit when Google’s offering is in the hands of the rest of the world. Let us know what you think of this week’s poll results in the comments.
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Google Voice,
SkypeMore About: gmail, Google, Google Voice, poll, Skype, voip, web faceoff
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In less than two days, Apple’s Ping music social network has surpassed the 1 million user milestone.
Apple introduced Ping as the centerpiece of iTunes 10 at its music event earlier this week. It is a music-centric social network where users can follow updates from both their friends and their favorite music artists. It includes custom song and album charts, a news feed and 17,000+ concert listings.
Ping has had a rocky road since its launch late on Wednesday. Apple’s social network has been hit with comment spam and international availability issues. The company’s in up-and-down talks with Facebook over integrations and API use. It’s also received lackluster reviews from the media.
However, that hasn’t stopped droves of people from trying out the iTunes-based social network. Apple says that 1/3 of users that have downloaded iTunes 10 have joined Ping.
Should we be surprised, though? More than 160 million people have iTunes, and curiosity is always at a high after an Apple event. However, while Ping may have 1 million registered users, that doesn’t mean they’ll still be using the social network three months from now. That is the numbers we’ll be interested in, because it is what will determine the fate of Ping as a service.
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Facebook,
PingMore About: apple, itunes, music, Ping, social networking, trending
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