The DOJ filed the complaint and proposed settlement on behalf of the FTC in U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California in San Jose this week.  The proposed consent decree is subject to court approval.

ConsumerWatchdog.org's Simpson said the organization is considering challenging the settlement by arguing that it doesn't serve the public interest if it doesn't include an admission of guilt from Google.

A is shared by FTC Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch, the only one of five commissioners who voted against referring the complaint to the DOJ and approving the proposed settlement.

"There is no question in my mind that there is 'reason to believe' that Google is in contempt of a prior Commission order. However, I dissent from accepting this consent decree because it arguably cannot be concluded that the consent decree is in the public interest when it contains a denial of liability," Rosch wrote in a dissenting statement.