In advance of today's antitrust hearings about Google's practices, Google opponent FairSearch released a survey showing 79% of Americans favor the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's antitrust probe of the search giant.
The survey of 1005 adults across the U.S. was sponsored and designed by FairSearch and conducted by Braun Research Sept. 15-18.
Among other findings, FairSearch says:
- "Over six in ten (64%) believe a single company that controls 79% of the market for a good or service should be subject to existing antitrust laws. Only a quarter (23%) say such a company should not be subject to these laws and 13% are not sure.
- "Almost six in ten (57%) feel that Google’s control of 79% of the search advertising market is bad for consumers. Only a third (33%) consider this a good thing for consumers.
- "Two thirds (65%) believe Google’s control of the mobile search market is bad for consumers."
FairSearch members Expedia, Kayak, Sabre/Travelocity and Microsoft led the opposition to Google's acquisition of
ITA Software and it's not a shocker that the survey also found, according to FairSearch, that "over six in ten (63%) say it is unfair for Google to use the profits it makes from its dominant position in search advertising to buy smaller, innovative companies at an early stage, preventing them from becoming competitors."
Who knew that the American public was so attuned to Google's acquisition strategy?
You can expect that some of these findings will be cited at today's Senate hearing.
Of course, one has to be somewhat skeptical about a survey conceived and designed by a party that has a definite point of view about the matters at hand. How survey questions are phrased can be all-important.
For example, here's one survey question:
"Since incorporating in 1998, Google has grown from a small startup company to become the world’s largest Internet company, with revenues of more than $29 billion a year. Google makes almost all of that money by using the personal data it collects about consumers to sell targeted search advertising. Today, Google controls 79% of the search advertising market in the United States.
"Do you feel that one company controlling 79% of the search advertising market in the U.S. is good for consumers or bad for consumers?"
Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich points to a survey -- not sponsored by Google -- and conducted by Rasmussen in January which found that 77% of adults felt government regulation is not required to choreograph how search engines provide answers to search queries.