An unsafe search

AN UNSAFE SEARCH
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Editorial staff]
[Commentary] After struggling with their conflicting feelings toward Google, consumers now have proof positive that the Internet giant has crossed over to the dark side: it's the subject of a federal antitrust investigation, an honor that puts it in the ranks with Microsoft, the company that is, incidentally, shouting out for the investigation. When even Microsoft starts accusing you of using unfair marketplace tactics, perhaps it's time to change your business motto from "Don't be evil" to "Don't get caught." Yet the investigation, which centers on Google's proposed $3.1 billion of online advertising company DoubleClick, is at least as important for consumers as it is to Google's business competitors. Unfortunately, their interests aren't likely to be reflected in the investigation -- federal regulators will probably focus only on business competition and aren't likely to consider the impacts for consumer privacy. That's at least in part because consumers themselves have grown apathetic about their own privacy online, panicking only when there's a major security breach. This reflects the fact that few consumers truly understand the new threats that have emerged from the online marketplace.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/0...