Reports

Amazon Slime: Amazon’s New Consumer Deception

June 12, 2017  ·  John M. Simpson

A new survey of Amazon’s prices shows the retailer routinely uses inflated and fictitious previous prices to give consumers the misleading impression they’re getting a bargain. Inflated “previous” prices are the latest tactic Amazon has employed to induce customers to…

How Google’s Backing of Backpage Protects Child Sex Trafficking

May 17, 2017  ·  John M. Simpson

For years, one company—Backpage.com—has dominated online trafficking in minors for sex. The advertising giant’s reach is vast, with sites catering to 437 locations in the U.S. and 506 overseas. So is its impact: By one count, 73% of all suspected child1 trafficking…

Google Glass Raises Privacy And Safety Concerns

April 16, 2014  ·  John M. Simpson

Google Glass raises privacy and safety concerns, said Consumer Watchdog in a report released Monday.

Consumers Are Charged More As A Result of Google’s Search Monopoly

February 12, 2014  ·  John M. Simpson

merchant must pay more to win top placement, so winning merchants raise their prices to consumers to cover their added costs. Before the business model could be implemented, Google needed to clear the field of competing CSEs.

Google+: A Playground for Online Predators

December 15, 2013  ·  John M. Simpson

Additionally, it appears that Google+ also makes suggestions of people one might want to add to his or her Circle based on the content theysearch for and profile pages they visit as will be documented further below.

Liars and Loans: How Deceptive Advertisers Use Google

February 1, 2011  ·  John M. Simpson

Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 2. Google Profits From Fraudulent Advertising 3. Google’s Market in Deceptive Ad Words 4. The Debt Settlement and Credit Repair Industry 5. In Depth: We’re from the Government and We’re Here to Help (Not Really) 6. In Depth:…

Lost in the Cloud: Google and the U.S. Government

January 12, 2011  ·  John M. Simpson

Executive Summary An ambitious quest for influence with the US government is starting to pay off for search giant Google, a Consumer Watchdog investigation has found.

Traffic Report: How Google Is Squeezing Out Competitors and Muscling Into New Markets

June 2, 2010  ·  John M. Simpson

Google's dramatic gains are revealed by an analysis of internet traffic data for more than 100 popular websites. Once upon a time, these sites primarily benefited from Google. Now, they must also compete with it. In the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, IG…