Internet Marketers and business professionals are watching closely as the U.S. Senate Subcommittee for Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights seeks to answer the hard question, "Is Google a Monopoly?". In this presentation, Shanna Kurpe explains the hearing, introduces key players, and poses thoughtful questions about the Internet Law and Search Engine Marketing.

1. The Power of Google
Presented by Shanna Kurpe

2. Agenda
Overview of the Hearing
Claims Against Google
Google’s Position
Questions to Ponder

3. The Power of Google:
Serving Consumers of
Threatening Competition?

4. Key Players
The Federal Trade Commission
The Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition
Policy and Consumer Rights
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google
Yelp and Other Disgruntled Companies

5. The Case Against Google
Does Google serve
customers or threaten
competition?
Do they unfairly promote
their businesses in search
engine results, such as
YouTube, GoogleBooks and
Google Travel?

6. Do they live up to
their motto?

7. Primary Accusations
Google is a gateway to the web and controls what people see.
Google favors its own content.
Google's search ranking changes hurt a certain website or caused
them to lose traffic.
Google deters other companies from innovating.
Google is hurting small businesses.
Google used third party reviews improperly for its Place Pages.
Google limits choice in the Android mobile operating system.

8. Major Complaints
“We believe Google has acted anti-competitively in at least two key ways: by misusing
Yelp review content in their competing Places product and by favoring their own
competing Places product in search results.”
“The success of any website relies on two crucial elements: how useful it is to the consumer
and therefore how highly it ranks in search engines. With both of these elements, Google is
manipulating its systems and position to promote Google Places over other competing sites.”
"Today, Google doesn’t play fair. Google rigs its results, biasing in favor of Google
Shopping and against competitors like us."
“Google tracks us all day and night online and through our mobile phones, doesn’t take
no for an answer, and gets wildly rich off its notes about us. The Senate’s investigation
into Google’s information monopoly should explore not only the anticompetitive threat
to business but the privacy threat to us all.”

9. Googles Position
Googles algorithm is a scientific process
Google creates jobs and economic value
Google levels the playing field for rival products
Google is facing competition from Twitter, Facebook and other social
networking sites
Nielsen research suggests that users spend more time on Facebook than
any other website
Microsoft Bing launched in 2009 offers fierce competition
Using Google is a Choice

10. Questions to Ponder?
Is it wrong that Google favors themselves in search engine
ranking results?
Are the senators equipped to handle a case like this?
Is the government capable of supervising and/or authorizing
the Internet? Even so, should they?
What is Google’s responsibility to government, small
business, and the community?

11. More Resources for You
Watch the Senate Hearing:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?
id=3d9031b47812de2592c3baeba64d93cb
Read Google’s Defense
http://googlecompetition.blogspot.com/2011/09/guide-to-
senate-judiciary-hearing.html
Read Trip Advisor’s Complaint
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/01/22/tripadvisor-reviews-
google-places-the-saga-continues/

12. Photo Credits
SEO Refugee. Googopoly. SEO Refugee. Web. Accessed 4 October
2011.
Diavolo. Photo of Eric Schmidt. Flickr. Web. Accessed 4 October 2011.
advancedtelepresence. The Power of Google Apps.
advancedtelepresence. Web. Accessed 4 October 2011.
Zimbio. Photo of Senator Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar. Zimbio.
Web. Accessed 4 October 2011.
Scoroncocolo. Google: Don’t Be Evil. Scoroncocolo. Web. Accessed 4
October 2011.