????11月份,，筆者在采訪拉里?佩奇時(shí),，談到關(guān)于谷歌（Google）操縱搜索結(jié)果，在損害競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的情況下為自己公司的服務(wù)提供便利的投訴,。當(dāng)時(shí),，他對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題侃侃而談，表達(dá)了自己對(duì)這種指控的不屑：

????“我們的態(tài)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(shí)、準(zhǔn)確,、精確分類(lèi)的信息,。這是我們的第一要?jiǎng)?wù)。我知道有許多公司在從事各種細(xì)化的專(zhuān)業(yè)搜索業(yè)務(wù),，而他們所做的只是我們的一部分業(yè)務(wù),。我們看到了打造卓越產(chǎn)品的機(jī)會(huì)，而不僅僅是一些零散的業(yè)務(wù),。我經(jīng)常以度假計(jì)劃為例,。如果有一個(gè)系統(tǒng)能夠?yàn)槿藗兲峁┗镜亩燃儆?jì)劃，那再好不過(guò),。它能夠知道用戶的偏好,，了解天氣，知道飛機(jī)票的價(jià)格,、酒店價(jià)格,，熟悉物流情況，還能將所有因素綜合成一種用戶體驗(yàn),。這就是我們對(duì)搜索的認(rèn)識(shí),。

????你在剛開(kāi)始提到了“你們的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手”。那些對(duì)我們的各類(lèi)業(yè)務(wù)提出投訴的公司,，我并不認(rèn)為他們真的會(huì)那么做。所以,，再次重申,，我并不會(huì)那么想?！?/p>

????當(dāng)時(shí),，已經(jīng)有跡象表明,，對(duì)上述指控展開(kāi)調(diào)查已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)達(dá)兩年的美國(guó)聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)（Federal Trade Commission，F(xiàn)TC）不會(huì)對(duì)谷歌的核心搜索業(yè)務(wù)行使反壟斷強(qiáng)制執(zhí)行權(quán),。上周四,，該委員會(huì)發(fā)表聲明，稱(chēng)未發(fā)現(xiàn)證據(jù)證明谷歌存在所謂“搜索偏向”,，谷歌贏得了一場(chǎng)完勝,。這樣一來(lái)，谷歌確定可以避免與美國(guó)政府的大規(guī)模對(duì)抗,。之前的科技行業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)公司,，如美國(guó)電話電報(bào)公司（AT&T）、IBM和微軟（Microsoft）等均曾深受該類(lèi)調(diào)查的困擾,。

????委員會(huì)主席喬恩?雷博維茨在新聞發(fā)布會(huì)中說(shuō)道：“我們一致認(rèn)為……（谷歌）公司沒(méi)有涉及非法壟斷,，沒(méi)有違反《聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)法》（FTC Act）?！?/p>

????谷歌在佩奇【他成功的CEO生涯將成為本期《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）一篇報(bào)道的主題】的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下恢復(fù)了活力,、專(zhuān)注度和發(fā)展勢(shì)頭。雖然來(lái)自亞馬遜（Amazon）,、蘋(píng)果（Apple）和Facebook的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)仍然非常激烈,，但除非是與監(jiān)管當(dāng)局直接交鋒，否則任何事情也無(wú)法阻擋谷歌前進(jìn)的腳步,。市場(chǎng)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(xiě)道：“政府干預(yù)是谷歌最大的威脅所在,。”如今,，美國(guó)監(jiān)管部門(mén)在交鋒中讓步,，谷歌的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，尤其是微軟,，肯定會(huì)將案件提交到歐盟（the European Union）和美國(guó)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(wèn)大衛(wèi)?德拉蒙德在公司官方博客中寫(xiě)道：“結(jié)論一清二楚：谷歌的服務(wù)既有利于用戶,，也不妨礙競(jìng)爭(zhēng)?！?/p>

????不過(guò),，谷歌確實(shí)對(duì)聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)做出了部分讓步：公司將在“公平、合理,、非歧視的條款下”授權(quán)重要的手機(jī)技術(shù)專(zhuān)利,；允許其他公司將廣告宣傳活動(dòng)從谷歌轉(zhuǎn)移到競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的搜索引擎；自愿同意改變與Yelp等“垂直”搜索引擎的關(guān)系,。

????但許多分析師發(fā)現(xiàn),，這些讓步,，尤其是關(guān)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(jiān)持到現(xiàn)在才做出讓步,，只有一個(gè)目的：給聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(huì)一些好處，讓它停止對(duì)搜索偏向的調(diào)查,，從而保住公司的顏面,。

????譯者：劉進(jìn)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.