Google faces antitrust probes — and that's emboldening some of its critics

Critics of Google are beginning to come out of the shadows after years of quietly brooding in the corners of the tech industry, emboldened by the possibility that government authorities and the public are ready to bring Silicon Valley's biggest players down a notch.

Small tech firms frustrated by Google's power in the online advertising and search markets are adding their voices to the company's long-time rivals, such as the review website Yelp, speaking up against the quirky giant that is a consumer favorite for its ostensibly free and simple products.

Some small businesses use words like "ransom" and "shakedown" when talking about Google, while Google says it's acting in the best interest of consumers.

Those complaints were given a fresh jolt on Monday when attorneys general from 48 states announced an investigation into whether Google has used its power to hurt rivals or consumers. Google's parent company, Alphabet, confirmed on Friday that it's being investigated by the Justice Department's antitrust division and that it expects more states to open enquiries.

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"Is something really free if we are increasingly giving over our privacy information? Is something really free if online ad prices go up based on one company's control?" Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, said at a news conference in Washington.

Google has long seemed immune to criticism in the U.S., fighting off an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices by the Federal Trade Commission in 2013 and cultivating goodwill among political figures and would-be rivals in the tech sector.

But as Google's power grew, particularly in the web search and online advertising markets, some companies began to allege that the company was favoring its own content at a cost to competitors. Now, those complaints could help form the basis of action by antitrust enforcers, privacy regulators and lawmakers, making Google the latest tech corporation — after Facebook recently and Microsoft years ago — to face the concentrated firepower of government authorities and rivals.

However, not every tech company is keen to speak out on Google, citing its power as well as its importance to many smaller tech companies.

The CEO of Basecamp, a small software firm in Chicago, helped set off the newly skeptical questions this week when he blasted Google for its policy of allowing anyone to buy ads related to a brand name; if someone searches Google for "Basecamp," they might first see an ad for the company's rivals.

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"When Google puts 4 paid ads ahead of the first organic result for your own brand name, you're forced to pay up if you want to be found," Basecamp's CEO Jason Fried said on Twitter on Tuesday. "It's a shakedown. It's ransom."

The tweet went viral, with more than 34,000 likes by Friday, but it also prompted other companies to tell similar stories, going public with their frustration over how much of their advertising budgets they see as being wasted on Google's search ads — with no real alternative.