Three Questions the FTC May Study in Google Antitrust Probe

Google, the dominant navigator and king-maker of the web, is finally getting the antitrust inquiry from the Federal Trade Commission that its competitors and opponents have long hoped for, a challenge that goes to the very core of the search titan's business practices.

1. Does Google's ad auction operate fairly? Companies that advertise on Google bid against each another to place a "sponsored result" on its search-result pages. But there is unfair pricing pressure in some instances. Whenever Google places a "house ad" on a search term, such as an ad for its photo product Picasa that shows up when consumers search for "photos," the company takes up a keyword ad slot and thereby boosts scarcity.
2. Does Google favor its commerce affiliates? Google also sometimes places links to members of its Affiliate Network, which includes marketers such as Target and Land's End, in sponsored search results. But these are effectively house ads, placed at no cost to affiliates. Google gets an affiliate fee for any product a person buys through this network, so it is in Google's interest to show affiliate links free of charge.
3. Does Google unfairly promote its own products in search? Most of Google's efforts these days center on building its position outside search, in display ads, maps, mobile and social. And searches for an address, for example, typically return Google Maps results first. In some cases, competing map engines such as MapQuest don't even show up in the first page. The government might well argue this is an anti-competitive practice. Google may say its Maps product offers the best result, meaning it provides the most value to consumers.