As far as modern political struggles go, one of the most fiery has long been the battle on how much autonomy a business should have; with too little, they cannot grow or thrive, and with too much, they can overrun the market (becoming a monopoly, engaging in unfair practices, etc.). There are few places in today’s world where this battle is quite as visible as it is with Google.

Last month, Google is pushing for autonomy in both the European and North American market. In Europe, Google is currently under investigation for its business practices. The Competition Commission of Europe has been actively looking into the possibility that Google may be manipulating its search engine results to increase revenue, shut out competitors, or support its own products in an unfair manner. Additionally, concerns have been raised over whether Google may be telling customers, or implying to them, that they need to increase ad spending to increase in organic ranking.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the FTC is considering regulatory laws which would ensure that Google can’t favor their own results over those of competitors (in the standard, non-sponsored section of the SERP). This issue is controversial largely because it may prevent Google from showing additional service platforms, such as Google Maps or Hotpot locations, on their results page.

To try and combat this, Google has sent Matt Cutts (a popular public voice within Google) to discuss the company’s inner functionings and present a case for the company through an 85-slide presentation. Beyond this comparatively minor lobbying attempt, Google can do little but cooperate with officials as their search platform is investigated. Meanwhile, most every move they make comes under fire from competitors; when you’re a titan, every one of your steps is an earthquake.