Google 'to offer compromise' in antitrust probe
Search giant said to be working on changes to business practices to end 2-year investigation
Google was poised to offer voluntary concessions that would end a 20-month US antitrust probe of its business practices without any enforcement action being taken, two people familiar with the matter said.
Google, which has been under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, was preparing a letter promising not to copy content from rival websites without permission and to allow advertisers to compare data from ad campaigns with their performance on other internet search engines, one of the people said yesterday.
That would bring the antitrust investigation to a close without a lawsuit or settlement, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter was not public.
An end to the probe without enforcement action would be a blow to competitors including Microsoft, Yelp, and Expedia.
An alliance of such e-commerce and web-search companies have pressed the agency to act, claiming Google's dominance of internet search combined with favouring its own services in answers to queries violates antitrust laws.
Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman, declined to comment on whether Google was preparing to announce concessions in the case or whether the FTC was preparing to close the matter without taking action.