Epress.am News from Armenia
Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told a Senate panel Wednesday that the company faces tough competition and isn’t using its dominance in Internet search to stifle competitors, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.
Schmidt is testifying at a hearing examining whether Google is abusing its power to thwart competition by placing links to its own content and services at the top of search results to the disadvantage of its rivals’ links.
Schmidt told lawmakers that the Internet search giant won’t make the same mistakes as Microsoft Corp., which was curbed by the government several years ago when it was deemed to be exercising monopoly power.
Consumers will correct mistakes the company makes, he said. Schmidt insisted that Google could easily be unseated by better technology because competition is only a “click away” on the Internet.
Google’s dominance of Internet search and advertising has put the company under regulatory scrutiny that is making it more difficult to expand its empire. A broad inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission into Google’s business practices could turn into a lengthy legal ordeal that becomes a major distraction for the company.
Schmidt asked the members of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust for their help to ensure the FTC’s investigation is “focused and fair.”
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., processes about two of every three online search requests in the US and an even larger percentage in some parts of Europe. Its search results already highlight sone of its own specialized services, including online mapping, video and finance.