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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently investigated Google for possible improper business practices and found some issues that needed to be resolved, including issues involving patent lawsuits. Google agreed to a settlement and promised to change its ways. Microsoft, unfortunately, is not too happy with the outcome.
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“The FTC took steps today to address some of Google’s improper business practices. We find it troubling that the agency did not adhere to its own standard procedures that call for the agency to obtain industry input on proposed relief and secure it through an enforceable consent decree. The FTC’s overall resolution of this matter is weak and – frankly – unusual. We are concerned that the FTC may not have obtained adequate relief even on the few subjects that Google has agreed to address,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.
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Microsoft is obviously affected by this outcome as the company has gone to battle with Google over patent issues in the past. Now, Microsoft thinks the FTC could have done a better job in the investigation of Google and listed a few things that Google needs to work on, including data portability, standard essential patents, and various other issues.
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“For years Google has publicly championed the virtues of “data portability”—the idea that customers ought to be able to use their own data in products from various companies. But in practice, Google effectively prohibited its primary paying customers (advertisers) from using data about their own advertising campaigns on any ad platform other than Google’s,” Microsoft mentions. Microsoft also believes that Google should live up to its promise to make their patents available on reasonable terms. Microsoft also brings up a good point. Has Google learned from this or are they going to shrug this investigation off like it was nothing.
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