According to an old memo unearthed by the US government for its monopoly case against Alphabet Inc.’s Google, there are certain things that Google employees are not allowed to say in writing about the company. Google is currently on trial in Washington DC over allegations that it illegally maintained a monopoly in the online search business. Government lawyers claim that executives at Google have long been aware that their practices are under scrutiny and have encouraged employees to avoid creating lasting records of potential problematic conduct.
Google employees often use the company’s Google Chat product to communicate with each other internally. Under a policy called “Communicate with Care,” the Justice Department alleges that employees receive training that advises them to have sensitive conversations over chat with the history feature turned off, meaning that the conversation is automatically deleted after 24 hours. As evidence of this practice, the Justice Department attorney presented a chat from Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai in which he requested a link for a meeting and asked for the chat history to be turned off.
Government lawyers argue that this and other evidence presented at the trial show that Google has been hiding and destroying documents because they knew they were violating antitrust laws. However, Google declined to comment on these allegations.
As early as 2003, Google managers were circulating instructions on phrases to avoid that might make the company appear as a monopolist. In a memo from July 2003, Google Chief Economist Hal Varian wrote that they need to be cautious about antitrust considerations and careful about what they say in public and private. Varian specifically mentioned that the phrase “cutting off their air supply,” used by Steve Ballmer, then-CEO of Microsoft, during their antitrust scrutiny should be avoided. Another memo from Varian in 2009 encouraged employees to use the term “query share” instead of “market share” when referring to Google’s portion of the search market.
Google’s dominant share in the search market is a sensitive topic, as the company controls close to 90% of the market, resulting in the majority of revenue from ads. The Justice Department and some state attorneys general allege that Google has entered unlawful agreements with other big tech companies to give its search tools prime real estate on electronic devices. This has allegedly prevented competitors like Microsoft and DuckDuckGo from gaining traction in the search market. Google’s attorneys deny these allegations, stating that consumers choose their search engine because of its superior technology.
Regardless of the legality of growing a search empire, Google employees are instructed to avoid taking chances in any communications that may be saved. Government lawyers cited an internal presentation from 2011 titled “Antitrust Basics for Search Team” that advised employees to avoid references to markets, market shares, or dominance.
During the trial, the government attorney pressed Hal Varian on the extent of antitrust training at Google. Varian stated that he couldn’t remember if he had taken such training, but government lawyers referenced an internal document that advised employees to avoid references to markets or market shares. Varian acknowledged having informal communication with lawyers about legal matters but did not specifically recall having a class on this subject.
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
