Google, Mr. Schmidt and his family’s foundation are the principal funders of that think tank. A firm whose motto was “Don’t Be Evil” has no interest in being called a monopoly by a think tank it funds. There’s evidence that this kind of exaggeration is carried out by numerous scholars and think tanks funded by Google. But as the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog discovered in February 2009 when it investigated Google’s handling of consumer privacy, the funding from Google comes with strings attached. These papers make their way to the congressional committees and regulatory agencies that are charged with overseeing Google’s business, like the Federal Trade Commission.

Source: New York Times August 30, 2017 22:07 UTC