Skip to main content

FTC may table planned antitrust case against Google due to lack of evidence

FTC may table planned antitrust case against Google due to lack of evidence

Share this story

Google logo stock
Google logo stock

Last month, it looked like the FTC ready to recommend suing Google for antitrust violations, but now Bloomberg is reporting that the government is now unsure whether it has enough evidence to proceed with its planned lawsuits. The issue at hand is whether or not Google is tweaking search results to benefit the company and hurt its competitors, but three sources have indicated that the FTC is wavering on whether it can prove Google's search methodology is harmful to consumers. Despite the potential uncertainty around the FTC's case, chairman Jon Leibowitz reportedly told Google that it needs to propose a resolution to the FTC's antitrust concerns or face legal action, with a final vote from the five FTC commissioners on whether or not to proceed with a lawsuit expected by the end of the month.

The FTC's case against Google has already drawn a bit of controversy — Congressman Jared Polis (D, Colorado) has urged regulators to drop their planned case, saying that an antitrust case against the search giant would be "woefully misguided." Polis even went on to threaten congressional action against the FTC that could reduce the agency's power in enforcing antitrust matters if the Google case became official. It's becoming quite clear that this isn't an open-and-shut matter, but we should know within a few weeks whether or not the FTC's case against Google is strong enough to move forward.