????11月份，筆者在采訪拉里?佩奇時，談到關于谷歌（Google）操縱搜索結果，在損害競爭對手的情況下為自己公司的服務提供便利的投訴。當時，他對這個問題侃侃而談，表達了自己對這種指控的不屑：

????“我們的態度就是，我們的客戶就是我們的終端用戶。人們希望能從我們這里得到真實、準確、精確分類的信息。這是我們的第一要務。我知道有許多公司在從事各種細化的專業搜索業務，而他們所做的只是我們的一部分業務。我們看到了打造卓越產品的機會，而不僅僅是一些零散的業務。我經常以度假計劃為例。如果有一個系統能夠為人們提供基本的度假計劃，那再好不過。它能夠知道用戶的偏好，了解天氣，知道飛機票的價格、酒店價格，熟悉物流情況，還能將所有因素綜合成一種用戶體驗。這就是我們對搜索的認識。

????你在剛開始提到了“你們的競爭對手”。那些對我們的各類業務提出投訴的公司，我并不認為他們真的會那么做。所以，再次重申，我并不會那么想。”

????當時，已經有跡象表明，對上述指控展開調查已經長達兩年的美國聯邦貿易委員會（Federal Trade Commission，FTC）不會對谷歌的核心搜索業務行使反壟斷強制執行權。上周四，該委員會發表聲明，稱未發現證據證明谷歌存在所謂“搜索偏向”，谷歌贏得了一場完勝。這樣一來，谷歌確定可以避免與美國政府的大規模對抗。之前的科技行業領導公司，如美國電話電報公司（AT&T）、IBM和微軟（Microsoft）等均曾深受該類調查的困擾。

????委員會主席喬恩?雷博維茨在新聞發布會中說道：“我們一致認為……（谷歌）公司沒有涉及非法壟斷，沒有違反《聯邦貿易委員會法》（FTC Act）。”

????谷歌在佩奇【他成功的CEO生涯將成為本期《財富》雜志（Fortune）一篇報道的主題】的領導下恢復了活力、專注度和發展勢頭。雖然來自亞馬遜（Amazon）、蘋果（Apple）和Facebook的競爭仍然非常激烈，但除非是與監管當局直接交鋒，否則任何事情也無法阻擋谷歌前進的腳步。市場研究公司Sector & Sovereign Research的分析師保羅?撒加瓦最近在一篇看好谷歌的文章中寫道：“政府干預是谷歌最大的威脅所在。”如今，美國監管部門在交鋒中讓步，谷歌的競爭對手，尤其是微軟，肯定會將案件提交到歐盟（the European Union）和美國各州的首席檢察官。但起碼在上周四這一天，谷歌上下可以彈冠相慶了。谷歌首席法律顧問大衛?德拉蒙德在公司官方博客中寫道：“結論一清二楚：谷歌的服務既有利于用戶，也不妨礙競爭。”

????不過，谷歌確實對聯邦貿易委員會做出了部分讓步：公司將在“公平、合理、非歧視的條款下”授權重要的手機技術專利；允許其他公司將廣告宣傳活動從谷歌轉移到競爭對手的搜索引擎；自愿同意改變與Yelp等“垂直”搜索引擎的關系。

????但許多分析師發現，這些讓步，尤其是關于廣告和垂直搜索方面的讓步，只是谷歌的一種策略而已。谷歌之所以堅持到現在才做出讓步，只有一個目的：給聯邦貿易委員會一些好處，讓它停止對搜索偏向的調查，從而保住公司的顏面。

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????When I asked Larry Page in November about claims that Google manipulated search results to favor its own services at the expense of rivals, he gave me a lengthy answer that more or less pooh-poohed the allegations:

????"The way we think about it is that our customer is our end-user. People are really trying to get some information and get honest, accurate, well-ranked information from us. That's our job one. I think that there are companies that do various kinds of specialized things, that they're doing a part of what we do. We see the opportunity to build amazing products that are more than any of those parts. So one of my favorite examples I like to give is if you're vacation planning. It would be really nice to have a system that could basically vacation plan for you. It would know your preferences, it would know the weather, it would know the prices of airline tickets, the hotel prices, understand logistics, combine all those things into one experience. And that's kind of how we think about search.

????You began by saying "your competitors." I don't think the companies that are complaining about various components of what we do are trying to do that. So again, I don't kind of think about it that way."

????By then, Google (GOOG) already had a pretty good indication that the Federal Trade Commission, which had investigated the allegations for nearly two years, would not aim its antitrust enforcement powers at the company's core search business. Still, the announcement by the agency on Thursday that it found no real evidence of so-called "search bias" is a major victory. It all but ensures that Google will avert the kind of major confrontation with the U.S. Government that derailed tech leaders of earlier eras, like AT&T (T), IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT).

????"We found unanimously that […] that they hadn't engaged in illegal monopolization and had not violated the FTC Act," Jon Leibowitz, the commission's chairman, said during a press conference.

????Under Page, whose successful tenure as CEO is the subject of a story in the current issue ofFortune, Google has regained energy, focus and momentum. While competition from Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) among others, remains intense, few things had the potential to disrupt Google's march forward more effectively than a fight with regulators. "Government intervention is Google's biggest threat," Paul Sagawa, an analyst with Sector & Sovereign Research, wrote in a recent bullish report about Google.

????Now that U.S. regulators have backed down from a confrontation, Google's rivals, led by Microsoft, are sure to press their case with the European Union and with attorneys general in various states. But Thursday was a day for Google to gloat. "The conclusion is clear: Google's services are good for users and good for competition," David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, wrote on the company's official blog.

????The F.T.C. did obtain some concessions from Google: the company will license important mobile technology patents on "fair, reasonable and non discriminatory terms;" it will allow businesses to easily take their advertising campaigns from Google to rival search engines; and it will voluntarily agree to some changes in its relationship with "vertical" search engines like Yelp (YELP).

????But as some analysts noted, those concessions, especially on ads and vertical search, were merely tactical. Google held firm on these issues until now with one goal: give something to the F.T.C. so it could close the search bias case and save face.