PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Consumer Watchdog Asks EU to Block Google, Motorola Deal

 & Chloe Albanesius Executive Editor, News

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

A consumer group on Wednesday penned a letter to European regulators asking them to block the pending merger of Google and Motorola Mobility on anticompetitive grounds.

"The Internet is too important to allow an unregulated monopolist to dominate it," John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project, wrote to the EU's competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia.

Simpson argued that a combined Google and Motorola would "provide Google with unprecedented dominance in virtually all aspects of the mobile world—manufacturing, operating systems, search and advertising. It would be a virtually unstoppable juggernaut. We urge you to block the deal."

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment on the letter.

Last week, the European Commission set a deadline of Feb. 13 for when it would issue its ruling on the $12.5 billion Google takeover of Motorola Mobility. That came about a month after the EU suspended its investigation of the Google deal in order to gather more details.

In the U.S., the Justice Department also asked for more information about the Motorola deal back in September.

In mid-August, Google surprised tech enthusiasts by announcing plans to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. Motorola has been a purely Android shop for some time, but the deal was primarily viewed as a way for Google to gets its hand on some much-needed patents; Motorola has at least 17,000.

This is not the first time Consumer Watchdog has criticized Google, meanwhile. In September 2010, the group purchased space on a Times Square jumbotron to display a video that attacked Google's then-CEO Eric Schmidt and his company's privacy policies. Last year, the group also demanded information about why Google solicited Social Security Numbers for its Doodle 4 Google contest.

For more, see Google Acquires Motorola Mobility: What You Need to Know, as well as PCMag's year in review of Google.

About Our Expert

Chloe Albanesius

Chloe Albanesius

Executive Editor, News

My Experience

I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag's news coverage.

My Areas of Expertise

Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I've covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that's now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

Read full bio