Google's Eric Schmidt says he met with FTC about antitrust probe

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said Friday he has met with the Federal Trade Commission about its just-launched antitrust investigation, but that it will likely "be awhile" before the agency’s intentions become clear.

"I'm not going to speculate on their motivation," said Schmidt, who was in Washington to attend a meeting of the president’s technology advisers. "They haven't said anything yet. They haven't said what their plan is, what their issues are and so forth." Schmidt said he expects it will take some time for the investigation to play out, given the speed at which such probes typically progress. The European Commission opened its own investigation of Google in November. "I think it is correct to say that they are asking a question, which is perfectly reasonable — it's their job," Schmidt said, referring to the FTC.