The FTC might actually sue Google this time

The Federal Trade Commission might be getting ready to sue Google over Android. Again.
At issue this time is the "Google bundle," or the core group of apps and services Google requires on every android phone. Docs, Search, YouTube, those sorts of things.

"The key thing is to watch this and see whether it's going to have legs, and whether they're trying to catch up to the European competition officials who are already looking at this issue over there," said Bloomberg's Sara Forden.

The Justice Department has greenlit the FTC to move forward, if it chooses to. But the FTC has a history of not suing Google when antitrust comes up.

It closed a 2012 inquiry into whether Google was using Motorola patents as ammunition for lawsuits against other companies. Google settled before the FTC had to bring a case.

And it announced it was closing an investigation into potentially anticompetitive Google search practices in 2013.

It took issue with some industry commentary on the closure, which suggested close working relationships between Google and FTC staffers might have influenced that outcome.

"Not a single fact is offered to substantiate this misleading narrative."
But Bloomberg's anonymous insiders still wonder if this new investigation will really be any different.
"The FTC's handling of the earlier probe left some technology companies skeptical of the agency's willingness to bring a case" against Google.

Now it's the commission's move. The FTC would have to make an official statement of objection if it does want to pursue a case, which would give Google an opportunity to respond.