US Gov to Sue Google Over Online Ads Monpology; 7000 Data Points on Each Person

[GNews]

‘We think Google has 7,000 data points on just about every human being alive (with internet)’

This is pretty interesting. It appears the US Government is joining the feeding frenzy. It's joining the list of countries suing google, though I think this happens every few months for them now. Apparently, Google's dominance with on-line ads has gotten to be too much and they **think** the playing field is not fair for others . LOL . ((think))

The investigation is one of the greatest efforts to regulate Google by the US government, with rare coordination between state and federal law enforcement. Google has turned over more than 100,000 documents to investigators as part of the ongoing probe, and civil demands have been served to a number of related third parties.

Will this change the game? Thoughts?

via: TheVerge

 

[Philip J. Fry]

It's too early to tell. That article didn't say much, other than an investigation is beginning. Does Google have a large say in the demand and supply side of online ads? Yes, however, we're not hearing Google's side nor have we actually heard the US Government's side. The prosecutors would still need to determine if they have enough of a case to win in order for them to go to court. Once they've made that decision and if the decision was yes, we'll hear their argument. We'd then hear Google's argument too.

Last time something like this happened, Google was accused of having a monopoly on search. Their defense was that they don't and that looking up information, information retrieve, is much wider than simply using their search engine. They won.

However, that was the US. Google doesn't do so well in the EU, where businesses are under much more regulatory control.

If this does go to court and if the US Government does succeed in a lawsuit, it might just be a fine. I doubt that they'll do anything drastic such as break Google's Adsense and AdWords departments into separate companies, such as what they did with Bell Telephone or Standard Oil.

So, would this change the game?... No. Go back to work.

 

[bernard]

I have no idea what happens with ads, but we should all definitely be concerned with the massive databases that Google, Facebook and others have collected of persona information.

I don't worry so much what Google is doing, I worry what the cyber divisions of the intelligence services are doing. I worry what the people who gather in Davos are thinking.

In my opinion it would be incredibly naive to assume that Google hasn't turned their info like this over to the intelligence services.