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WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)-Larry Page should put in a call to Bill Gates.
Founder of Microsoft Corp. 's famous may know better than anyone else what Google Inc. Chief Executive would face if he engages in a long legal battle against the U.S. antitrust regulators.
Google said on Friday that the Federal Trade Commission opened a formal investigation of its business, raising concerns among investors about a long, distracting and potential lawsuits.
Microsoft suffered that fate in its two-decade struggle with the u.s. Department of Justice and State attorneys under costs abused its monopoly on operating systems to crush competition in other areas.
After a high-profile process, Microsoft finally resolved the issue in 2002, and only last month emerged from Government oversight.
"Bill Gates felt like he was punished for being successful, and he never really recovered from the antitrust process," said Michael Cusumano, Professor at MIT Sloan School of Management, who was involved in the process. "Microsoft has suffered accordingly. Not aggressive. Definitely lost their edge. "
If Google Page will handle the review of its business more dispassionately than Gates remains to be seen. The son of 38 years of academics is known for a stubborn streak, championing the ambitious technology and products whose financial payoff in the short term are not always clear.
Page, along with Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, have resisted calls to testify before the hearing Committee's antitrust Subcommittee on Senate judicial competition in Internet search.
Some are worried that the Google desire to stand firm against the intrusion of Government-like in its protests against censorship of search results in China-will bring the company in a long battle that eventually will do more damage than a quick fix.
"The amount of time involved is almost beyond calculation," says Bob Lande, a veteran of the FTC who now teaches at the school of law University of Baltimore.
The weight of these legal battles and investigations uncertain, you might say about the company in time. Google's actions are already under pressure as investors worry about the growing competition that faces from Facebook and others.
Shares of Google has started the year a touch over $ 600. The shares ended down 1.11% to $ 474.88 on the Nasdaq.
"The more that the spectre of an investigation hangs over any major head of the company, plus has a negative impact on everything from his ability to do business in its reserve price," said Melissa Maxman, co-Chair of the Department's antitrust law firm Cozen O'Connor.
JUST THE BEGINNING
The company said on Friday that works with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in a review of its business practices, but made it clear that I did not think he had done something wrong.
"It is still unclear exactly what the FTC's concerns, but we are clear about where we are," Google executive Amit Singhal wrote on a blog post on the Google website.
The FTC is expected to address complaints by rivals of Google search results to favor the company's services. Google, which runs an estimated 69% of Web searches worldwide, can make or break a company depending on its search ranking.
The European Commission and the Attorney General in Texas launched investigations into similar issues last year, company that specializes in market research, such as specific websites to compare prices for electronics, following complaints of travel or mortgages.
"This is just the beginning. You have the EU investigating Google, you have the Feds investigating Google. State AGs have Google in the viewfinder. It is not a great position to be in, "said Colin Gillis, technology analyst at BGC partners. "You start with regulators to tamper with your core business, which is something to be concerned about."
It is not certain that the FTC's investigation will lead to legal action.
"Typically less than one out of every 10 investigations lead to the execution. This inquiry faces daunting odds, "said David Balto, a former FTC Policy Director.
"The complaints to the FTC are disgruntled by advertisers, not consumers. It is not a solid basis for an antitrust case. "
(Additional Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic San Francisco and Seattle-Bill Rigby; editing by Carol Bishopric)
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