The biggest just got indirect permission to get even bigger. U.S. antitrust regulators won't challenge California-based Google Inc.'s purchase of the mapping app Waze with any allegations of unfair practices. As owner of the largest search engine in the world, Google may have been concerned about being contacted by the Federal Trade Commission, but this had not happened, according to industry insiders who asked that their names not be used because they didn't have authorization to talk publicly about the issue. In June 2013, however, the company said that the FTC had not contacted it about the transaction. A representative for the FTC declined to comment on the agency's review of the deal.

BP may have been responsible for dumping more than 200 million gallons of oil into pristine waters in 2010, but the company is only now fighting its legal ramifications. California environmental activists and business litigation experts alike are watching closely as the company tries to counter a new Environmental Protection Agency ban stemming from the Gulf of Mexico disaster. BP is challenging a temporary moratorium against getting any new U.S. leases or government contracts for oil exploration.