Bloomberg reports that the US Federal Trade Commission is expanding its antitrust probe of Google to include Google+. The move comes just days after the launch of “Google Plus Your World” that gives its fledgling Google+ social networking platform enhanced priority in search results to the great annoyance of established players like Twitter. Citing two sources, Bloomberg writes that “the competition issues raised by Google+ go to the heart of the FTC’s investigation into whether the company is giving preference to its own services in search results.” While Google declined to comment on the investigation, spokesman Adam Kovacevich did issue a more general response:
FTC expanding antitrust probe to include Google+, says Bloomberg
Bloomberg reports that the FTC is expanding antitrust probe to include Google+ following the launch of Google Plus Your World.
Bloomberg reports that the FTC is expanding antitrust probe to include Google+ following the launch of Google Plus Your World.
is a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for 20 years.
“We believe that our improvements to search will benefit consumers. The laws are designed to help consumers benefit from innovation, not to help competitors.”
The FTC has been poking around the edges of Google’s business ever since the probe was disclosed back in June.
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