Senate to hold Google antitrust hearing on September 21
updated 04:25 pm EDT, Thu July 28, 2011
Senate schedules Google antitrust hearing
The Senate's antitrust panel has scheduled the Google case hearing on September 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Thursday. The hearing is called "The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competition?" To date, the only known witness is Google Chairman Eric Schmidt.
Google is being investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission on accusations that it abused its market dominance. Competitors complain that Google uses its search results to promote its own services more than those of competitors, and other issues are at stake as well.
Microsoft in Europe maintains Google locks down data that would help advertisers switch to another network ad. YouTube feature access and prioritization in mobile devices controlled by Google is another point of contention. In Korea, the company was sued for allegedly not allowing competing search engines to be loaded onto Android devices.
Schmidt assures the government Google is ready to cooperate with the government agencies. Some believe Google will settle with the FTC.
