FTC worried Google Plus may skew results

The FTC's investigation into Google has spread into search, a purported insider disclosed Friday night. Following thetech giant's plans this week to put Google+ updates into the search stream, the US regulator was said by Reuters to be probin whether the social network was unfairly pushing down Google's competitors through results. Twitter, among others, have accused Google of 'warping' results by making it hard for Twitter to get as much prominence.

In response to requests for comment, Google had said that it had never been contacted regarding Google+. The FTC is known to start investigating a company with publicly available information before contacting the company. FTC officials also haven't acknowledged any activity.

Most of the antitrust investigation has so far focused on Android and Google's regular search. In all cases, Google has argued that it can't force customers to use Google search and that it's only fair a company promotes its own results and products first.

Including Google+ results was meant to help users find content shared by their friends without having to leave the main Google page.

By Electronista Staff

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