Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt stuck to his claim that...

the company promoted its own services in its organic search rankings (WID Sept 22 p1). Schmidt responded to questions from Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Ranking Member Mike Lee, R-Utah, Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and John Cornyn, R-Texas. Universal search results “are not separate ‘products and services’ from Google,” Schmidt told Franken, Blumenthal, Kohl and Lee. The search results “are our search service -- they are not some separate ‘Google content’ that can be ‘favored.'” Schmidt also responded to queries around copyright infringement and how Google responds to complaints about certain content on its apps or sites from copyright or trademark holders. Where Web search is concerned, “Google has no ability to ’take down’ the sites that exist on the Web, because we don’t control the Web,” Schmidt told Franken. “Instead, when copyright owners notify us of infringing material appearing in search results, we remove it from future results.” Grassley urged Google to “do more voluntarily to protect intellectual property rights.” The critical foundation for Google’s anti-piracy efforts remains the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Schmidt said. The company “has clear policies against advertising counterfeit goods, and we expend considerable resources to enforce those policies.” Some senators asked for clarification around Google’s online promotion to U.S. customers of Canadian pharmaceuticals, which resulted in a $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice (WID Aug 25 p1). Google changed its policy regarding Canadian pharmacies last year, he said in response to Cornyn’s query. The AdWords program “allows only online pharmacies based in the United States to run ads appearing in the United States.” Google uses filters and tools to identify ads that may be for illegal products, he said. Schmidt assured Blumenthal that Google has a wide array of procedures in place to prevent its advertising products from being used to illegally promote copyrighted material: “We use automated and manual review to weed out abuse.” Lee and his staff are still reviewing Schmidt’s responses, a spokeswoman said. The other senators didn’t comment. Schmidt’s answers distort the concerns raised by Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman “that Google’s unlicensed use of content from other sites … steers users to Google and away from competing sites,” said FairSearch, the coalition composed of Google rivals such as Microsoft, Expedia and Travelocity. FairSearch urged those investigating Google to continue searching for “real answers to the serious questions about how Google uses its monopoly power in the market."