Google emerges from 19-month FTC antitrust investigation nearly unscathed

At some point, you might have noticed that Google occupies quite a large section of the internet. From its search engine, to its text, voice, and video chats, to its turn-by-turn navigation, to email -- if it's an online service, Google generally has a worthwhile, free version available. As such, some might say that Google doesn't make it easy on the small guys and doesn't promote a fair economic ecosystem. About 19 months ago, the Federal Trade Commission started lookin into that claim, launching an antitrust investigation against the company. Today that investigation closed and Google came out relatively unharmed.

The investigation didn't focus on the majority of Google's offerings, but instead took a look at Google's search behavior to find out whether or not the company unfairly skewed its results. The investigation wasn't attempting to determine if, for example, Google would secretly tailor search results to companies it had deals or positive relations with but instead looked to see if Google was actually favoring themselves, giving a higher ranking to its own products and services. Of course, the enormous size of Google played a significant role in worrying about whether or not it was skewing results in its own favor.

In just the past two years, social media has grown significantly, with Twitter constantly setting tweet-per-second records, Pinterest became the fastest growing social site of all time, and Reddit turned into a source for news and entertainment rather than people finding that all through search. The tablet market has exploded, creating a (sort of) new way users interact with products and services of both Google and its competitors. If you have a parent that recently got their first iPhone or iPad, you might have noticed that they're using Siri to search the web rather than Google's search engine.

So, what does this all mean for Google?

First, Google got away without having to pay any fines. The company agreed not to attempt to block rival companies from using patents that are essential to "key technologies," such as the Motorola Mobility patents Google inherited when it acquired the firm for $12.5 billion last year. These patents are critical for broad, essential technologies used today, such as wireless connectivity. Google has willingly agreed that it will not seek injunction against a company -- rival or not -- willing to legally license whatever it needs from the patents.

Independently of the patent agreement, Google has agreed to remove restrictions on its advertising platform, AdWords, that make it difficult for entities to simultaneously manage an ad campaign on AdWords and other advertising platforms. As part of this agreement, Google will give entities the chance to opt out of being displayed on Google verticals. Also on that front, Google has agreed to provide entities with the option to remove their information from Google verticals, but to still be included in Google's general search results.

Regarding the investigation of Google's alleged search bias, the FTC ultimately determined(Opens in a new window) that the current state of Google's search practices can be "plausibly justified as innovations that improved Google’s product and the experience of its users." So, it closed the investigation. Whether or not the nearly two-year investigation shocked Google into being a little more careful, or instilled Google with delusions of unimaginable search power, only time will tell.