Search And Destroy

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken some baby steps toward keeping search engines honest. In June 2002, after receiving a complaint from the consumer advocate Commercial Alert, the FTC put out a letter urging search-engine companies to make "clear and conspicuous disclosures" about which search results are paid and which aren't. But the agency has no plans to take formal action. Letting the market solve these problems by itself is the American way. We like to assume that the most objective, least biased search engine will naturally win the search wars. (A typical European approach, by contrast, would be to nationalize Google at once, before it's too late.) This means that, for now, we're relying on the integrity of people like Larry Page. But when the competition gets stiff and Page has to answer to his shareholders, integrity may be a luxury Google can no longer afford.