Google's 6 Principles of Competition and Openness

There's a short but interesting blog post up on Google's official Public Policy Blog, which states six principles the company holds with regards to competition and openness.

"As Google has grown, the company has naturally faced more scrutiny about our business principles and practices," says Google's Senior Manager of Global Communications and Public Affairs. "We believe that Google promotes competition and openness online, but we haven't always done a good job telling our story."

He notes that the company has been meeting with policymakers, think tank reps, academics, journalists, ad agencies, and trade associations in the US and Europe.

1. Help other businesses be more competitive.

2. Make it easy for users to change.

3. Open is better than closed.

4. Competition is just one click away.

5. Advertisers pay what a click is worth to them.

6. Advertisers have many choices in a dynamic market.

Google actually has a 53-minute webinar available for download

on the topic of Google competition and openness. The webinar took place back on April 9th, but presumably in an effort to be more open with this, Google is throwing it in the spotlight so others can learn from it.

The posting of these materials appears to be a response to recent media coverage of antitrust concerns regarding the company. Earlier this week the FTC launched an inquiry into whether the overlap of directors on the boards of Apple and Google violates antitrust laws. CEO Eric Schmidt sees no conflict with the Apple Board seat.