Today Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt was grilled by Congress about the issue of antitrust laws and if Google is using its dominance in search in favor of its own products and services.
Before Schmidt was even questioned he wanted everyone to know one fact for certain: This was not the same situation that Microsoft faced in 1998.
Everyone in Silicon Valley learned their lessons over that one.
Reporters said that Schmidt was cool and calm and held himself well, more well than Gates in 98.
Schmidt fielded questions and defended Google in his darling grey suit and blue tie. However, to directly quote Mercury News' article:
"But Ted Henneberry, an antitrust lawyer with the Washington firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, said by not being able to definitively deny charges from critics that Google favors its own products and services, Schmidt failed to make the case that an investigation isn't necessary.
"Objectively, I think you'd have to come away and say, we need a really in-depth investigation of all this," Henneberry said."
Schmidt continued to get flack from accusers claiming Google's bias nature, but my favorite quote summed up what they all were thinking the best.
"Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., used a metaphor. "You run the racetrack, you own the racetrack," he told Schmidt. Google now also owns some of the horses, and "you seem to be winning," Blumenthal said."Schmidt kept his head held high as the 1hr 40min meeting ended. Quoting that he believed the Internet was a platform and Google was a GPS.
Now, with that aside, let me give you my mixed opinions.
I love me some Google. I love to search Google, I love to read, say and write Google's name, and I have even Googled Google before. Sure, I'm not totally enamored with Google+ but, come on, Facebook was my first love.
On the less affectionate side, I would be nervous of what Google is being accused of doing. Google is an Internet search engine powerhouse. If it wanted to show you its product vs a newly created business' then that business may have just been crushed before it was even started.
Either way, I feel like Google may not get completely away from this antitrust law issue. But I know I will still be Googling with the best of them!
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