More Monopoly Concerns for Google
July 3, 2009 by Mark Ellis
Filed under Business
As one of the most omnipresent entities on the Internet, Google has faced a slew of allegations from industry experts and competitors alike about its purported monopoly of the search engine business. While it has not yet been found in violation of monopoly laws, Google has yet another battle to fight, this time regarding Google’s plans to make an online database of books.
Google’s $125 million settlement with several book publishers concerning copyright issues has raised several eyebrows. Antitrust supporters worry that Google’s plans to make an online database of out-of-print books would make Google the only supplier of these books, thus giving it a monopoly on these products.
Authors and publishers of books to be added to the database will have the final say on whether or not their works will be included in the project. Google would receive 37 percent of the revenue of book sales made through the project, as well as a cut of the revenue taken in thanks to advertisements running within the project.















