Sundar Pichai Antitrust Hearing: Google CEO Targeted Over Market Control, Asked About Republican Conspiracy-Mongering

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday joined other leaders from major tech companies at a hearing in front of the House Antitrust Subcommittee. The questions leveled at Google echoed criticisms from many that, while growing to become a dominant online search tool, the tech company has begun to favor its own interests in search results and increasingly blocks traffic from competitors.

Over the course of the hearing, Pichai and Google seemed to be the most common target for tough questions. The first question from committee chair Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., was for Pichai and involved accusations that Google stole content from rising companies and jeopardized their business. Pichai insisted that Google worked directly with small businesses to help them, while avoiding answering the question directly.

Next, Cicilline asked about accusations that Google increasingly favors search results that are in the interest of the company. Pichai countered that the company only seeks to give users the most relevant information. He also claimed that the “vast majority” of Google searches do not get shown ads at all.

“One of Google’s memos observed that certain web sites were getting, and I quote, ‘too much traffic,’ so Google decided to put an end to that,” Cicilline said, in reference to long-standing accusations from sites like Yelp.

Despite Yelp’s history of criticizing Google for driving traffic away from them, Pichai claimed to not be aware of those specific allegations.

“Congressman, when I run the company, I’m really focused on giving users what they want,” he claimed. “We see vigorous competition, whether it be travel or real estate, and we are working hard to innovate.”

A common thread throughout the hearing was the focus of Republican committee members on anecdotal claims of anti-conservative bias from big tech, rather than on antitrust allegations. At one point, Rep. Gregory Steube, a Florida Republican, pressed Pichai as to why so many of his campaign emails might be going to spam folders on Gmail. Pichai debunked this potential bias, saying it is a common technical issue.

“There’s nothing in the algorithm that has anything to do with political ideology,” Pichai said. “We do get complaints across the aisle.”

Rep. Val Demmings, a Florida Democrat, added that the same thing has happened with her campaign emails.

Pichai was also questioned about alleged ties to the Chinese government and its cancelation of certain contracts with the U.S. military. These questions mostly came from Republicans calling into question the company’s patriotism. Pichai assured the committee that Google is committed to its relationship with the military and called its Chinese presence “limited.”