FTC probe could be hard, costly battle for Google

Investigation could prove to be good news for Microsoft -- FTC could push Google to be less aggressive

 

Computerworld - Google Friday acknowledged that it has received formal notification of a Federal Trade Commission review, prompting analysts to say the search company could be in for a long, tiring and expensive battle.

"These things are costly," said Geoffrey Manne, executive director of the International Center for Law & Economics, a global think tank.

"They'll have to come up with the usual millions of pages of documents," he said. "It's a costly ordeal. If [the FTC] decides they have enough of a case, they'll want to try it and not settle it. That is potentially very problematic for Google."

Earlier today, Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow, disclosed in a blog post that the company had received notification of an FTC probe into its business, including the search and advertising operations.     More