The Fair Search Coalition gives every indication that it is another “see thru coalition” dedicated to winning through the regulators what they can not win in the marketplace. . Our concern arises from the following statement on their website:
Based on growing concern that Google is abusing its search monopoly to thwart competition, we believe policymakers must act now to protect competition, transparency and innovation in online search.
Such a statement is somewhat surprising in that if the firms listed on the FairSearch.org website are in fact their sponsors, some of their sources of funding have been the subject of massive antitrust investigations by the federal government, have been sued over cheating local governments of revenues and have been sued by private sector firms for the violation of antitrust laws.
Given the track record of some of the FairSearch.org’s likely sponsors, it is imperative that FTC Watch.org also follow the actions of “See thru coalitions” in general, and the Fair Search Coalition in particular, to ensure that their sponsors win market share in the markets not the regulatory agencies.
It appears that the Glover Park Group, a recognized public relations and lobbying firm, provides the professional staff report to the Fair Search Coalition. On the other hand, FTC Watch.Org’s professional staff consists of former career civil servants who look forward to analyzing the work product of the Glover Park Group.
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