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"Google has scored a major victory this week after the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that the company had not violated antitrust or anti-competition statuses in the way it presents web search results.  Following a near two-year investigation, the FTC said yesterday (January 3) that it has decided to accept commitments put forward by Google to change its practices, and not launch an antitrust lawsuit against the firm.   This means that Google can avoid a similarly lengthy and costly antitrust battle as was so damaging for Microsoft in the 1990s. It also allows the firm to make just relatively minor changes to its business practices, while continuing to strengthen its already dominant position on the internet.  Google, which attracts around 70% of web search queries in the US, has been accused of prioritising its own products and services in search results to the detriment of rival companies, such as Microsoft and Yelp.  Web search is a key way for businesses to expand, as ranking higher in results brings a lot more traffic and therefore revenue. Google has always maintained that it uses a neutral algorithm for search queries, but its competitors dispute that.  However, despite the concerns, the FTC found in its investigation that there was no evidence to demonstrate that Google had &amp;quot;stifled competition&amp;quot; in violation of US laws. &amp;quot;The evidence the FTC uncovered through this intensive investigation prompted us to require significant changes in Google&amp;#039;s business practices,&amp;quot; said Beth Wilkinson, outside counsel to the Commission.  &amp;quot;However, regarding the specific allegations that the company biased its search results to hurt competition, the evidence collected to date did not justify legal action by the Commission. &amp;quot;Undoubtedly, Google took aggressive actions to gain advantage over rival search providers. However, the FTC&amp;#039;s mission is to protect competition, and not individual competitors. The evidence did not demonstrate that Google&amp;#039;s actions in this area stifled competition in violation of US law.&amp;quot; Google has agreed with the FTC to change some of its business practices to resolve the competition concerns.  The firm has made the voluntary commitment to &amp;quot;remove restrictions&amp;quot; on the use of its online search advertising platform AdWords, that could make it more difficult for advertisers to coordinate online campaigns across multiple platforms. It has also said that it will refrain from &amp;quot;misappropriating online content&amp;quot; from the so-called &amp;#039;vertical&amp;#039; websites that focus on specific categories, such as shopping or travel, to proritise its own vertical products.    Following Google&amp;#039;s $12.5 billion deal to acquire Motorola Mobility, including the firm&amp;#039;s 24,000-strong patent portfolio, the company will meet its prior commitments to allow competitors access - on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms - to patents on critical standard technologies needed to make devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and games consoles.  &amp;quot;The changes Google has agreed to make will ensure that consumers continue to reap the benefits of competition in the online marketplace and in the market for innovative wireless devices they enjoy,&amp;quot; said FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz.  &amp;quot;This was an incredibly thorough and careful investigation by the Commission, and the outcome is a strong and enforceable set of agreements.&amp;quot; He added: &amp;quot;We are especially glad to see that Google will live up to its commitments to licence its standard-essential patents, which will ensure that companies willing to licence these patents can compete in the market for wireless devices. &amp;quot;This decision strengthens the standard-setting process that is at the heart of innovation in today&amp;#039;s technology markets.&amp;quot; The five-member commission voted unanimously that the investigation into Google should be closed without bringing any charges.  However, some staff at the FTC are understood to have warned that it will be hard to keep Google to its promises without a formal consent decree or litigation, which were measures available to the FTC. The verdict also potentially puts the FTC in conflict with European officials, who are also working with Google to resolve similar concerns about the way it operates web search in Europe, where it has an even more dominant position.  Ben Gibson, managing director of The Search Agency, said: &amp;quot;Google, though criticised for the Motorola business&amp;#039;s over-enthusiastic application of patent demands, has come through this very well. The core criticism from rivals around bias in vertical search has been rejected, for now.  &amp;quot;This leaves the way open for Google to continue to advance more of its own vertical search products in the US. The EU may well look differently upon this, which may still impact developments here.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a448480/google-escapes-antitrust-suit-as-ftc-accepts-changes/>