Five more attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Google (GOOG, GOOGL) this week, accusing it of “antitrust evils” linked to its advertising technology business, increasing one of the three antitrust cases faced by the search giant in the States United
The move follows revelations earlier this month that the Biden government will add major technology critic Tim Wu and nominate prominent antitrust scholar Lina Khan to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Despite increasing regulatory pressure, Google’s chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, downplayed the threat of antitrust law enforcement in a new interview with Yahoo Finance. Although she swore that the company will “engage constructively” with regulators, Porat reiterated Google’s main argument in response to criticism: users choose Google because it is a strong product, not because they lack alternatives.
When asked about the antitrust threats and the recent additions to the Biden administration, Porat said, “This is not new to Google.”
“There has been research around the world over time. Our approach has been to engage constructively with regulators,” she adds. “Our view is that people go to Google not because they need to – but because they want to.”
The European Commission fined Google a total of $ 9.7 billion between 2017 and 2019 in three antitrust cases. One case accused Google of giving its own services an unfair advantage in search results; another claimed that it exploited its power in the cell phone market; and a third party alleged involvement in “abusive practices” in online ads.
In recent months, Capitol Hill has stepped up its scrutiny of four of America’s biggest technology companies – Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) – including the October launch of a scathing home antitrust report. Most reports have described Google’s dominant service network as an “ecosystem of interconnected monopolies” that leads to “greater monetization through online advertising”.
FTC acting chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter told a House subcommittee on Thursday that the agency should be more willing to sue companies it considers violating antitrust laws and regretted the 2013 agency’s decision to waive a lawsuit. against Google.
The testimony came after documents discovered by Politico this week showed that the FTC found evidence of anti-competitive tactics adopted by Google almost a decade ago. But the FTC chose not to file a lawsuit in part because it saw “limited growth potential” in online ads, which have largely boosted Google’s business since then.
In a conversation with Yahoo Finance, Porat reported the rise of Google after its launch in 1998, emphasizing that the company’s success was driven by a relentless effort to improve its product.
“I think it was the eighth search engine at the time, and probably, like many, my reaction is, ‘Why do you need another search engine?'” She says. “The reality is: it was a superior quality, a better experience, more relevant results.”
“So Google broke with the package, and the core for that has just been this ongoing commitment to innovation,” she adds.
Google performed strongly in the second half of 2020 due in part to a recovery in search ad and YouTube revenue, with hundreds of millions of Americans trapped at home on digital devices. The company ended the year with impressive revenue in the fourth quarter, raising $ 56.9 billion, representing an increase of 23% over the same period last year.
The company announced on Thursday that it will spend $ 7 billion this year on expanding its facilities in the U.S., adding at least 10,000 jobs in a number of cities, including Atlanta, Washington, DC, Chicago and New York.
Porat spoke with Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer in an episode of “Influencers with Andy Serwer,” a series of weekly interviews with leaders in business, politics and entertainment.
She joined Google as CFO in 2015, after more than a decade in senior banking at Morgan Stanley. While helping Google navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Porat drew on his experience in crisis management.
To start her career, she took a position at Morgan Stanley weeks before the market crash in October 1987; and later she advised the Treasury Department on the acquisition of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York over AIG during the 2008 financial crisis.
Illustrating Google’s commitment to innovation, Porat cited a feature launched last October that identifies music hummed by users on their mobile devices.
“Even if you hum as badly as I do, Google will help you identify: ‘What song was that?’”, She says. “So, we continue through technology [and] innovation, to make it fun, quirky, relevant. “
Read More: