The letter sent by Senators Kohl and Hatch to FTC Chairman Majoras this week was well-founded. Indeed, our group pressed both senators for such a letter (and provided modest support in terms of information and analysis). We have also given the FTC abundant information on why the deal is anti-competitive; how it reflects profound market realities in today’s digital ad market (it’s not the dot-bomb era any more); and why privacy must be addressed.
But we see groups such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) have sprung to Google’s defense. Noticeably missing from its support is a acknowledgment that they are receiving some funding from Google. CEI was just named as one of the policy groups Google will support as part of its new public policy Fellows initiative. CEI should disclose such relationships as it pontificates.
