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Slide show features companies Google calls competition

I recently delved into Google’s 10-K filing (opens in new tab) covering 2009 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (opens in new tab) and discovered that the Internet giant now lists 10 companies as competitors.

That’s up from the previous year’s SEC filing when Google only named two: Yahoo! and Microsoft. The latest dopcument also makes a point of claiming competition is only one click away.

I figure that the increased emphasis on supposed competitors is because Google is under well justified scrutiny by antitrust regulators and it is trying to make the case that it faces competition on many fronts.

Picking up on my discovery, Clint Boulton, who follows Google for eWeek (opens in new tab) and also writes a blog called Google Watch (opens in new tab), put together a slide show looking at each of the 10 companies Google now makes a point of claiming it competes with. Mike Swift at the San Jose Mercury News also has a good article about Google’s new spin on its "competition."
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Boulton’s eWeek  show is worth a look. (opens in new tab)

John M. Simpson

John M. Simpson is an American consumer rights advocate and former journalist. Since 2005, he has worked for Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan nonprofit public interest group, as the lead researcher on Inside Google, the group's effort to educate the public about Google's dominance over the internet and the need for greater online privacy.

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