Google, Ftc | featured news

U.S. regulators on Thursday closed a long-running investigation of Google with a relatively mild agreement that is likely to disappoint rivals and critics of the Web search giant. Under the agreement, Google agreed to end the practice of "scraping" reviews and other data from rivals' websites for its own products, and to allow advertisers to export data to independently evaluate advertising campaigns, the Federal Trade Commission said.

Google Inc will pay $22.5 million to settle charges it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple Inc's Safari browser, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday.

Google agreed to settle an FTC complaint that it used "deceptive tactics and violated its own privacy promises" with the launch of its social network, Google Buzz, which automatically shared information in Gmail address books.

The surprising endorsement by the Federal Trade Commission of Google’s deal for AdMob follows Apple’s purchase of Quattro Wireless, an AdMob rival.

Is Google simply buying its way into the mobile advertising market via its $750 million acquisition of AdMob? That’s what two consumer groups allege in a letter sent to the FTC today, as the organization continues to review the deal.