{"id":19225,"date":"2016-04-06T17:36:35","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T21:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=19225"},"modified":"2016-04-06T17:36:35","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T21:36:35","slug":"senate-hearings-on-google-and-their-behavior-in-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/06\/senate-hearings-on-google-and-their-behavior-in-local\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Hearings on Google and their Behavior in Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senator Blumenthal (no relationship) interviewed Professor Tim Wu, who last year came out against Google’s Local Universal results<\/a> as opposed to an alternative result, and Prefessor Meamed as to whether consumers have been harmed by Google’s behaviors, particularly in local. <\/p>\n

To paraphrase Prof Wu starting at 01:59 in the video: There was not strong evidence of consumer harm during original case. But subsequent research, particularly in Local, there is evidence that Google is manipulating search in an anti competitive way. There is stronger evidence of consumer harm now. Particularly in local. <\/p>\n

Prof Melamed noted that consumer preference for a different product would not in and of itself be a reason for anti-trust enforcement. <\/p>\n