Consumer Watchdog is pushing to get the European Commission to block Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility and to issue a formal complaint against Google’s business practices. The group’s Privacy Project Director John M. Simpson wrote a letter to Competition Commissioner …

The Office of the Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) has shut down 85 online mortgage modification scams, and says it is cooperating with an ongoing criminal investigation regarding Google suspending ad relationships with 500 advertisers. “The …

Consumer Watchdog, a group known for being critical of Google, is sponsoring legislation in California that would give people a an online “Do Not Track Me” option. In addition, Consumer Watchdog sent a letter to new Google CEO Larry Page …

Last week, rumors indicated that Google CEO Eric Schmidt might be in the running for the position of U.S. Commerce Secretary.  Now, the organization called Consumer Watchdog – which is perhaps Google’s most outspoken critic – has come out strongly …

 Consumer Watchdog, an organization known for being critical of Google, has asked Rep. Rep. Ed Markey, D-MA, and Rep. Joe Barton, R-TX,  for hearings on why Google collected children’s social security numbers on entry forms for its Doodle 4 Google contest.

In a letter to the Congressmen, who are co-chairmen of the Bipartisan House Privacy Caucus, the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group said, "The Doodle 4 Google incident is not a one-time event, but part of a consistent pattern of disregarding privacy rights."

Consumer Watchdog is at it again. The group has been criticizing Google for years, and gained a lot of exposure for some videos it created last year, including one depicting Google CEO Eric Schmidt as a creepy Ice Cream truck driver. 

Consumer Watchdog’s video production department is at it again.  The group, which received all sorts of coverage after portraying Eric Schmidt as an ice cream man with a disturbing leer, has now released a second clip calling Google chicken.

Consumer Watchdog, the group behind the much-publicized Eric Schmidt ice cream man video, has issued a press release blasting Google yet again. This is no surprise, considering recent news of an ex-Google engineer violating the personal data of of minors.

Consumer Watchdog has created a new anti-Google video portraying Google CEO Eric Schmidt has some kind of evil ice cream man. The video is a commentary on what the group perceives to be Google’s lack of regard for consumer privacy. 

A majority of Americans are concerned about Google’s Street View cars that collected private information from their Wi-Fi networks and want better privacy protections put in place, according to a new poll from Consumer Watchdog.

Overall, 74 percent of Americans view Google favorably, but 65 percent say the Wi-Fi scandal is one of the things that "worries them most" or a "great deal" with another 20 percent saying it "raises some concern" when considering online issues.

Google’s Street View cars could have recorded communications from some members of Congress, involved in national security issues, via unencrypted WiFi connections, according to an investigation by Consumer Watchdog’s InsideGoogle.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-CA, chair of the Intelligence Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee and former member of the Intelligence Committee has at least one wireless network in her Washington, D.C., home that could have been breached by Google.

Google is being criticized by advocacy group Consumer Watchdog for gathering private information from WiFi networks in Germany via its Street View cars.

The gathering of private information surfaced because the German government raised concerns about Google’s data collection leading the company to audit its practices.

Depending on how you look at it, Google’s either in a whole lot of trouble, or it’s gotten a lucky break.  The consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog went after the search giant again today, calling for the Department of Justice to take action, but arguably went too far by suggesting that the company be broken up.

Google’s paying a whole lot of money to talk to politicians, and the consumer advocacy group known as Consumer Watchdog isn’t at all happy about it.  Consumer Watchdog condemned Google this morning for spending $1.38 million in the first quarter of this year.

That expenditure works out to a 57 percent increase over what Google spent during the same period in 2009, and Consumer Watchdog’s John M. Simpson observed as a result, "Google is relatively new to the influence-peddling game, but they’re now one of the highest rollers in Washington."

Consumer Watchdog today called on the Justice Department to guarantee that its ongoing antitrust probe of Google’s business practices include an investigation into if the company is manipulating its search results to favor its own products.

Two consumer groups Monday asked the Federal Trade Commission to block Google’s $750 million deal to acquire mobile advertising firm, AdMob, on anti-trust grounds.

In a joint letter to the FTC, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) said Google is simply buying its way to dominance in the mobile advertising market, reducing competition to the detriment of consumers.

Advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog is urging the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to look closely at the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo search deal to ensure there are no antitrust violations and that user privacy is guaranteed.

Under the proposed deal Yahoo would use Microsoft’s Bing to sell ads that appear with search results. Google currently has 65 percent of the U.S. search market. Microsoft and Yahoo have 28 percent. Conventional wisdom is that the combination of the two smaller search businesses would offer stronger competition to Google.

Sometimes, Google and the government get along; one week from today, for example, Google will host a gathering in Washington, D.C. to discuss national security and Web 2.0.  Relationships don’t always proceed smoothly, however, and two consumer watchdog groups have asked the president to decide against hiring a certain Googler.

Several months ago, Consumer Watchdog asked Google to "cease a rumored lobbying effort aimed at allowing the sale of electronic medical records."  Google responded by calling the claim totally false.  Now, Consumer Watchdog’s come back with evidence that Google lobbied for something health-related, and the group’s demanded an explanation.