FTC report reveals Google manipulated its search results

Officials at the Federal Trade Commission concluded in 2012 that Google Inc. used anticompetitive tactics and abused its monopoly power in ways that harmed Internet users and rivals, a far harsher analysis of Google’s business than was previously known.


According to the 160-page report, the employees found evidence that Mountain View was demoting its competitors and placing its own services on top of search results lists, even if they weren't as helpful.

Google General Counsel Kent Walker defended the company:

"After an exhaustive 19-month review, covering nine million pages of documents and many hours of testimony, the FTC staff and all five FTC Commissioners agreed that there was no need to take action on how we rank and display search results.

We regularly change our search algorithms and make over 500 changes a year to help our users get the information they want. We created search for users, not websites-and that focus has driven our improvements over the last decade."



While the FTC didn't sue Mountain View for its anti-competitive practices, it got Google to promise to change its ways.

Source: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Engadget