Bad Google, Bad Google. Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

Bad Google, Bad Google. Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

Apparently, back in March 2015, Google had to respond to the Wall Street Journal‘s report of how often Google held meetings with the White House (230 times to be exact, since Obama took office). Google’s response claimed that there were several different topics of conversation discussed over the course of these meetings, and that nothing shady was going on. However, speculation persists that the timing of these meetings in relation to other key events is extremely suspicious because a large number of these meetings occurred just before antitrust investigations on Google halted back in 2013. Google holds strong in saying that these meetings had nothing to do with the antitrust allegations.

The plot thickens as new reports, this time from The New York Times, reveal that Microsoft has connections, to varying degrees, with three of the initial complainants that spurred the antitrust investigation into Google.

SO, the main point of suspicion: Upsurge in the number of meetings just before U.S. antitrust investigations into Google ended in 2013, the end result of which was zero action.

Questions are now being raised about White House involvement in U.S. investigations into Google, and the Senate has decided to investigate. According to a recent article, “[a] Senate panel plans to investigate whether the White House inappropriately derailed a federal investigation into accusations that Google was stifling online competition.” If there were any truth to this theory, this may have a significant impact on Google’s business and the White House’s integrity.

Google’s troubles do not end there. It was announced on April 14, 2015 that Google is expected to face new antitrust charges from the European Commission. The charges allege that Google has been using its dominant position as a search engine to favor its services/products over those of other companies. Margrethe Vestager is currently the European Union’s top antitrust official and will be deciding what route the allegations will take.

Current discussion on the issue suggests that this is only the beginning of Europe taking on large American companies. European companies have yet to rival the success of several of America’s superpowers, such as Google – so this may also be a pointed effort at giving Europe’s own home grown companies a competitive edge. Regardless, Google is presently under a very large and powerful microscope and, potentially, in a lot of trouble. (Notwithstanding, of course, reports about Google’s message to its employees on Tuesday that it had a “very strong case” and is expected to defend itself robustly in what could become one of the most contentious antitrust cases since the EU took on Microsoft 10 years ago).

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Do you have any feedback, thoughts, reactions or comments concerning this topic? Feel free to leave a comment below and follow the twitter accounts @CyberPinguelo, @eWHW_Blog, @S_H_Law. If you have any questions about this post or would like assistance with your data security/privacy and related efforts, please contact Fernando M. Pinguelo or the Scarinci Hollenbeck attorney with whom you work. To learn more about data privacy and security, visit eWhiteHouse Watch – Where Technology, Politics, and Privacy Collide.

Fernando acknowledges the notable contribution to this article from Ms. Jenna Methven, Chief Blog Correspondent and Blogger for eWhiteHouse Watch and a Monmouth University student.