You, Google. Get in here and explain all this personal data slurping – Missouri AG subpoena Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley on Monday said his office is investigating Google's business practices, adding fuel to the long smouldering antitrust fire that the Chocolate factory has been unable to extinguish. The ad biz has been trying to smother the flames for almost a decade now, fanned at first by Microsoft's …
What happened to the fight with the AG in the neighboring Mississippi? If I remember correctly, Google managed to convinced some judge that the AG's subpoena was too broad, and a fishing expedition. I'm not sure it's over yet though.
Since the FTC decided to give Google a pass, the state AG are apparently taking things into their own hands.
They did. One need only track the shuffling between Google and the Obama administration to see that there were many bought and sold. Happened with Congressional staffs, too. Which makes sense when you match progressive politics and progressive tendencies between all of them.
Every one who isn't on Thiel's or Bannon's Christmas card list might consider bunkering down right about now.
Sounds to me very like legalese for "fishing trip".
The A-G doesn't even mention the statutes that he thinks Google may be violating, he just waves his hands and talks some generic bullshit he's read about big data. I'm pretty sure "being big data" is not a crime, even in Missouri.
Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that Google unfairly manipulates its search results (and has done so these 10 years or more, basically ever since the launch of Google Books). But if I were making this kind of complaint about it, I'd be a lot more specific about it.
Perhaps the article has been edited after your comment, but now it reads "Hawley claims there may be evidence that Google manipulates its search results to favour Google-affiliated websites over competitors' websites. " and gives a few examples, regarding "Lyrics" sites and "Restaurant Reviews" sites.
Careful: the Missouri GDP is the total yearly revenue of the state, while the market cap is a measure of what Google is worth. For comparison, Google's revenue is about $100B a year. It's growing fast, but it will take 4-5 years until it catches up with Missouri. So no, Google cannot buy Missouri.
I disagree with the sentiments, there seems to be a lot of growing momentum (albeit not quite a concerted effort yet) and a groundswell from a lot of different people and areas that are now starting to take a long hard look at Google and asking some fairly straight questions about their operations. I think over the next couple of years there will be some fairly direct action against them and I'm not sure they will be able to buy their way out of it.
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