Federal Trade Commission

After years of investigations, lawsuits, and fines, a checkered past of patent abuse and exploitation appears to have caught up with a major U.S. chip developer.

Most of what we have learned in the five months since the election indicates that the Trump Administration is not going to be Google’s antitrust advocate and protector like the Obama Administration effectively was from 2013-2016.

The evidence is overwhelming that Alphabet-Google has broadly extended its search and search monopolies into several more markets, and that it has done so anti-competitively in the four years since the FTC chaotically shut down its search, search advertising, and Android investigations in January 2013.

When a Republican majority takes over at the Federal Communications Commission on Jan. 20, expect an immediate and profound regulatory mindset reset to reasoned, fact-based decision-making and regulatory humility.

Regulators mete out fines and stymie growth, but are rarely punished for their own misconduct.