According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice is considering an antitrust lawsuit against Google because of the company’s advertising strength. The government has hired a top trial attorney, deposed witnesses, and issued subpoenas.
Although I’m not an antitrust lawyer, I’m at a loss to see how Google has anything close to a monopoly in online advertising. If its terms become too burdensome, smaller competitors will grow at its expense. Let the free market handle the issue for now.
If the government goes after Google (using your tax dollars to fund it), expect a repeat of the Microsoft antitrust debacle that made alot of lawyers and lobbyists rich but did absolutely nothing to Microsoft’s market share. Microsoft inflicted far more damage on itself by releasing Vista than the government ever did through years of litigation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JzB0RIo2mIWhether you like Google or not isn’t the point. If the company is taken down or wounded by the government, the next target could be something you care about…maybe even your online business.
