Tag Archive | "Google Books"

One Privacy Policy To Rule Them All: What Google’s Controversial New Terms of Service Could Mean To You

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

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Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson points out that personalized advertisements targeted directly to a specific user, based on user-collected information, can be “a substantial amount” more lucrative than just an anonymous ad. And with all the information Google can collect about your interests from your searches, your Google Docs, and your favorite YouTube videos, they can figure out pretty specifically what ads they should show you. “They are positioning this as streamlining privacy,” Simpson says. “But that’s just PR. It’s all about better targeting for advertisers.”

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Consumer Watchdog Urges Senator Kohl To Recall Google’s Schmidt As Witness After Executive Calls Government Slow And Stupid In Interview

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

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Consumer Watchdog Urges Senator Kohl To Recall Google’s Schmidt As Witness After Executive Calls Government Slow And Stupid In Interview

Washington, DC – Consumer Watchdog today took Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to task today over remarks made to The Washington Post in which he claimed Google should not be the subject of antitrust review because its services are "free" and made derogatory remarks about government officials being slow, backward and greedy.

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Is Google’s Book Setback A Win For Consumers?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

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Google hasn’t exactly made life easy for itself by already scanning millions of books. John M. Simpson, director of the privacy project for the non-profit California-based Consumer Watchdog group, supports the digitization of the world’s books, but says, “Google’s entire business model is to never ask permission, but to seek forgiveness if necessary. Judge Chin has ruled simply that you can’t take other people’s property and use it without asking.”

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Judge Echoes Google Critics In Digital Book Ruling

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

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"Google has built a monopoly in search, and having a monopoly isn't necessarily illegal," said John Simpson, a frequent Google critic who has been following the company's business practices for the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. "The question is once you are in a monopoly position, how do you use it? I think Google has repeatedly abused it, and that come out in this decision."

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Consumer Watchdog Praises Judge For Blocking Google Books Deal

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

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Consumer Watchdog Praises Judge For Blocking Google Books Deal

Decision Sends Message Google Must Ask Permission Before Using Others' Property SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog praised Federal Judge Denny Chin today for rejecting the Google Books settlement and added that Google should finally learn it cannot usurp and exploit other people’s work and information without first asking permission. The decision also raised serious antitrust issues, the nonpartisan, nonprofit group noted.