Google Sets Aside $500 mn For Justice Department Probe

Google, recently in news every day for one or the other (wrong reasons), has set aside $500 mn for costs towards a probe being initiated by the US Justice department. The department intends to do a thorough investigation whether Google is driving up prices of its Ad system by manipulating its Search results and incorporating other tweaks.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/05/google-ftc-idUSN0512618120110405
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/05/11/idINIndia-56927720110511
http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_D_google12.31191db.html
http://www.webmasterworld.com/goog/4310664.htm

Comments from DP members?

 

if this one true.. they can't caught or catch.. they run the system so its going to be tough..

 

everyone has their eyes open wide for every move Google makes, most of it is just jealousy. You can believe that people are trying to prove them doing something wrong. I personally think they are an ethical company, and they wouldn't do something silly like this.

 

A book just came out about Google and how evil they are... can't remember the name. I've always liked Google, not sure why, I guess I just don't have a problem with how they operate YET. The thing is seriously if you could move people down in search results and show them to millions and if by doing so your revenue would go up wouldn't you do it? I bet they do this.

 

lnkdropper4: yes, companies may tend to do this in the absence of any check by appropriate authorities. That is why the department wants to do the probe. The very fact that Google is setting aside such a huge amount makes the common man to doubt that Google is gaming the system. If Google is ethical and transparent (doing what they say), why should they set aside such a huge amount to cover the costs of probe by a government authority?

 

Because those authorities are lawyers so you have to arm yourself with lawyers to protect yourself from saying the wrong thing, giving information you don't have to, protecting information they don't need, and do it within the law. If the police pick you up even though you've done nothing wrong, wouldn't you want to hire a lawyer to help you get through the process?

 

500mn is a lot for lawyers and other legal support, if you are innocent.
Google has long ago abandoned their slogan "don't be evil". So I wouldn't be surprised if they get caught.

 

Please check out this article:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/05/google-faces-lawsuit/
It appears that Google Android uses some location details of the user and stores the information in plain text which may be exploited by other phones or applications.