Google has taken a fight with the Wall Street Journal to a new level - by countering what it sees as misleading , inaccurate reporting with a gif of a laughing baby . The search giant turned to fodder more usually seen on teenage blogs and social media in an escalating conflict based on a Federal Trade Commission report uncovered by the Wall Street Journal . The search giant used the looping clip while retaliating against an article in the newspaper which quoted the report , which uncovered officials ' reservations about Google 's business practices , and was supposed to remain private . gif war : A Google public relations official deployed this picture of a laughing baby to counter reporting she objects to in the Wall Street Journal . Boss : Rachel Whetstone , pictured , was the author of the blog post . She worked for the British Conservative Party before joining the search giant . It also took umbrage to the suggestion that Google staff members visiting the White House 230 times President Obama took office could have affected the probe . Ultimately the FTC concluded that it was n't worth trying to sue Google , and instead negotiated changes to its practices , which the company implemented . But rather than respond directly to what it saw as the Journal 's inaccurate reporting , Google posted the cutesy image and implied that the newspapers ' publishers were being hypocrites . Implications : Whetstone 's post took aim at Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch , whose lower-brow publications were also given a mention . Rachel Whetstone , senior vice president in Google 's Communications and Policy department , wrote the post , which began with aspersions against News Corp , the company which ultimately owns the journal . She said : 'Last year Robert Thomson , CEO of News Corp , accused Google of creating a `` less informed , more vexatious level of dialogue in our society . '' 'Given the tone of some of your publications , that made quite a few people chuckle . ' She then followed up with the baby gif . The mention of the 'tone ' of some News Corp titles is evidently a reference to the fact that , as well as the Journal , News Corp ultimately owns the New York Post tabloid , as well as The Sun in Britain . She also responded to the Journal 's supposed claims that Google has 'undue political influence ' by linking to a famous Sun front page claiming that its endorsement swayed the country 's 1992 general election . Only then did Whetstone , a former high-ranking political adviser for the British Conservative Party , address a list of grievances with the Journal 's report , which cited instances when FTC officials recommended suing Google . Clincher : Whetstone used the above image to end her argument , after pointing out that Google 's business practices had been approved by several government bodies . She also drew in another report which pointed out that Google 's 230+ meetings at the White House during Obama 's presidency , and cited an FTC statement saying the Journal had been 'misleading ' by juxtaposing that fact with reporting on the anti-competitive practices investigation . After citing a number of other rulings vindicating , by state-level government bodies and also officials in Europe , Whetstone fired off another gif - this one a jubilant Jewish New Yorker winning an argument . The piece was a seemingly rare intervention by Whetstone , who had n't written a blog for Google since 2012 . A recourse to gifs in otherwise serious discussion is n't unprecedented . In January , House Speaker John Boehner fired off a salvo of 12 Taylor Swift gifs to trash the President 's community college plans . A spokesman for the Democrats responded in time , harnessing the pop icon to declare 'Haters gon na hate ' over Twitter .
Search engine took umbrage to reporting on federal probe from 2012 . Communications official John Boehner wrote gif-laden rebuttal .