Schmid’s quit from Apple’s board is not an end to FTC investigation into Google

Richard Feinstein, director of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission`s bureau of competition, said that they will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between Apple Inc and Google Inc. He commended both companies for recognizing that sharing directors raises competitive issues, in light of the resignation of Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt from Apple's board.

Regulators have been investigating the Google-Apple tie for "some time," even as the two companies increasingly compete with each other in markets such as smartphones and operating systems. Typically, a resignation like Schmidt's would have closed the FTC investigation, but because former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson remains a director of both companies, the agency was not likely to close its investigation down yet, antitrust experts say. Furthermore, a consumer rights group criticized Schmidt for taking too long to leave Apple's board and called on Levinson to choose either Apple or Google.

Google, the No. 1 Internet search engine and provider of text-based search ads, has been praised for being a successful American company, but that success comes with increasing scrutiny from regulators. According to experts, an end to the FTC investigation would have done little to reduce the regulatory spotlight on Google in Washington mainly because of the company`s market share.

In another investigation, the Justice Department is looking at Google's settlement with the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers that would allow it to create a massive, online digital library.

Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission last Friday sent letters to Apple, Google and AT&T Inc, the exclusive carrier for the Aplle`s popular iPhone in the United States, seeking information about why Apple rejected Google's voice application for the iPhone. The FCC's inquiries come at a time when its chairman, Julius Genachowski, is looking into the ability of consumers to choose their mobile handsets and how these arrangements also affect competition and innovation.