Google+ Added to FTC Antitrust Probe
Never mind the fact that most of the people you know aren’t using Google+, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reportedly expanding its antitrust probe of Google to include scrutiny of the social networking service.
At issue is whether the company is giving preference to its own services in search results, and whether that practice violates antitrust laws, according to reports from both Bloomberg and Reuters.
The issue is timely because Google this week introduced changes to its search engine so that results feature photos, news and comments from Google+ postings. Google calls the new function “Search, Plus Your World.” Under it, Google+ users now see personal information about their friends included from the social networking service when they conduct a search on Google. Bloggers, privacy groups, and competitors now say the inclusion of Google+ results unfairly promotes the company’s products over other information on the Web.
