Google: Learning from the trouble it's in

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It’d be easy to say Google has become a victim of its own success. To some extent that’s true.

It’s the paradox that often the more you are loved, the more you are loathed. In the case of Google, its growing power has led to more inquiries from regulators and greater envy from rivals.

But let’s not forget Google has made mistakes. Just look at the Street View scandal. It showed how one slip up can be very costly. Google still faces fines across the world for taking payload data over Wi-Fi connections and it may be some time before the wounds heal from that particular battle.

Google has plenty more to worry about. On different sides of the Atlantic, the company is facing investigations from various regulators.

It’s the paradox that often the more you are loved, the more you are loathed.

Of equal, possibly greater concern are the various lawsuits the company is embroiled in. A number of these could irrevocably damage Google's plans for its hugely popular Android mobile operating system.

Recently appointed chief executive Larry Page has much to be content with, but plenty to contend with too. Whilst Google is a seemingly indomitable force right now, for perhaps the first time in its history it is looking at a variety of problems which together have the potential to be very harmful indeed.

There are wide ranging pejorative connotations of Google being hit hard, as many firms rely on its services. At the same time, businesses can learn much from Google's perils.

Anti-competition probes

What exactly is Google looking at? Here in Europe, its search business is facing an anti-competition probe by the European Commission (EC).

The investigation won’t come as a surprise to many given the EC’s past actions and the dominance Google has over competitors on this continent. Its search market share currently stands at around 90 per cent.

It’s clear Google is under the spotlight, but will it be worried given it has come out relatively unscathed from previous investigations?

In March 2011, Microsoft went as far as to file a complaint with the EC, making some startlingly strong claims against Google's actions. The latter was accused of engaging “in a broadening pattern of walling off access to content and data,” which rivals claim they needed to compete in the market and attract advertisers.

Even in the US, where Google isn’t as dominant, there have been rumblings of an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). When the regulatory body said it was going to clamp down on tech giants to ensure they weren’t getting up to any mischievous practices, it specifically mentioned Google.

It’s clear Google is under the spotlight, but will it be worried given it has come out relatively unscathed from previous investigations? Remember those which followed the Buzz and Street View privacy cases?

Precedents

The maximum monetary penalty for a breach of antitrust rules in Europe is 10 per cent of global revenue, but other demands can also be laid down. So whilst it's hard to say what the outcome will be precisely, there are precedents, most notably - given the EC complaint - those involving major rival Microsoft.

After it failed to comply with a 2004 ruling, the Redmond giant was eventually slapped with the largest ever fine handed out by the EC. IT was asked to pay around £680.9 million after being found guilty of blocking out competition through practices around Windows. The firm was told to divulge information needed for non-Microsoft software to run fully with the OS, as well as produce a version of Windows without Media Player.

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