Google preparing for US Senate hearing

Google Inc controls more than two-thirds of the global search market. But Web technologies such as social networking and smartphone applications offer new ways for people to find information -- putting pressure on the company.

At the hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel on Wednesday, Schmidt will argue that Google's critics are wrong to say it gives preference to its own products. Rather, he will say Google is just trying to deliver the best-cultivated search results for users.

Schmidt had been Google's chief executive officer, but vacated the post to company co-founder Larry Page in April.

He now serves as executive chairman and oversees government affairs -- a position of critical importance as the Federal Trade Commission ramps up its antitrust probe into whether Google favors its own products in search, among other issues.

The issue of search ranking is a touchy subject with Google, which says its algorithm is devised to give users the most useful result so they will come back. Google's revenue comes from advertising on the search results page.