Censorship, Regulation 'Pretty Big Concerns' For Alphabet, Says WSJ Reporter

Sundar Pichai heads Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL's Google unit and will testify in front of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee this year to discuss reports of censorship on the platform.

What Happened

The vast majority of Google's revenue comes from its core search engine, which presents a challenge for the company as more than half of the country believes there is some form of censorship in search results, The Wall Street Journal's Douglas MacMillan told Fox Business News Monday.

The mere perception of the existence of a bias is a "big deal" that Google is starting to react to, he said. 

Why It's Important

Google's search algorithms are developed and refined by humans, so at the very least there could be "some influence," MacMillan said — but there is also no conclusive evidence that search results are biased toward one side, he said.

What's Next

It's more likely than not that the U.S. government will impose some form of bipartisan regulation, although it is unclear if it will result in a small hit to margins or require a complete overhaul of Google's business model, MacMillan said. Nevertheless, there are some "pretty big concerns" for Google moving forward, and how Pichai "manages Washington is going to be a big part of the story of this company in the next few years," the reporter said. 

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