Five other attorneys general joined a lawsuit against Google (GOOG, GOOGL) this week, accusing him of ‘antitrust mischief’ related to his advertising technology business, which faces one of three antitrust cases facing the search giant in the US.
The move follows revelations earlier this month that Biden’s government will add high-tech critic Tim Wu and nominate leading antitrust scientist Lina Khan to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Despite increased regulatory pressure, Google chief financial officer Ruth Porat underestimated the threat of antitrust enforcement in a new interview with Yahoo Finance. While promising that the company will “constructively engage with regulators”, Porat reiterates the key argument Google made in response to critics: users choose Google because it is a strong product, not because they have no alternatives.
Asked about antitrust threats and the recent additions to Biden’s government, Porat said: “This is not new to Google.”
“Over time, inquiries have been made around the world. Our approach has been to engage constructively with regulators,” she adds. “Our view is that people do not come to Google because they have 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 accuses Google of giving its own services an unfair advantage in search results; another claims to be using his power in the mobile phone market; and a third claims to have an “abusive practice” in online advertising.
Over the past few months, Capitol Hill has intensified its investigation into four of America’s largest technology companies – Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) – including the October release of a sharp House antitrust report. The majority report described the web of dominant Google services as an ‘ecosystem of interlinked monopolies’ that drives ‘greater monetization through online advertising’.
Acting FTC chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter told a House subcommittee on Thursday that the agency should be more willing to sue companies that violate antitrust laws and regrets that the agency decided in 2013 to file a lawsuit against Abandoning Google.
The evidence came after documents unveiled by Politico this week showed that the FTC found evidence almost a decade ago of rival competition conducted by Google. But the FTC chose not to file a lawsuit in part because it sees “limited potential for growth” in online advertising, which has largely fueled Google’s business ever since.
In conversation with Yahoo Finance, Porat recounts the rise of Google after its launch in 1998, emphasizing that the company’s success is driven by a relentless effort to improve its product.
“I think when it was the eighth search engine, and probably like many, my response was, ‘Why do you need another search engine?'” She says. “The reality is: it was of higher quality, a better experience, more relevant results.”
“That’s why Google broke through the package and the core of it was really just this constant commitment to innovation,” she adds.
Google achieved strong performance in the second half of 2020, in part due to a surge in search revenue from search and YouTube with hundreds of millions of Americans sitting at home on digital devices. The company ended the year with tremendous revenue in the fourth quarter, with $ 56.9 billion, an increase of 23% over the same period last year.
The company announced Thursday that it will spend $ 7 billion this year on expanding its U.S. footprint, which will add at least 10,000 jobs in a number of cities, including Atlanta, Washington, DC, Chicago and New York.
Porat spoke to Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer in an episode of ‘Influencers with Andy Serwer’, a weekly series of interviews with business, politics and entertainment leaders.
She joined Google as chief financial officer in 2015, after more than a decade in senior banking roles at Morgan Stanley. While helping Google navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, she used her background to manage crises.
To begin her career, she took a role at Morgan Stanley weeks before the 1987 market crash; and later she advised the Treasury Department on the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the New York Federal Reserve Bank on AIG during the 2008 financial crisis.
To illustrate Google’s commitment to innovation, Porat cites a feature launched in October that identifies a user – inspired song on their mobile device.
“Even if you hum as bad as I do, Google will help you identify: ‘What was that song? “,” She says. “So we continue through technology [and] innovation, to make it fun, unique, relevant. “
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