The European Commission has launched an investigation into Google after other search engines complained that the firm had abused its dominant position.The body said it would look into whether the world’s largest search engine lowered the ranking of competing services in its results.The probe follows complaints by British price comparison site Foundem and French legal search engine ejustice.fr.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11876443Also see:EU to launch Google search investigation
The European Commission today launched a formal investigation into Google following allegations that the internet giant has abused its dominant position in the search and advertising market.Google is facing an EU anti-trust investigation following complaints from rivals about “unfavourable treatment” of their search services within the search engine giant’s “natural” unpaid as well as sponsored listings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/nov/30/google-search-eu-investigationGoogle search investigation sparked by complaint from British site
A tiny British shopping comparison site has triggered an investigation by the European Commission into whether Google is abusing its monopoly position by deliberately lowering rivals’ sites in its search results.The European Commission announced today that it will carry out an investigation into Google’s business practices – the first such in the world and one certain to be watched with interest.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/nov/30/google-investigation-eu-british-complaintFoundem accuses Google of using its power to favour own links
Foundem is a shopping comparison site whose founders woke up one day in June 2006 to discover that the worst had happened: it had vanished from Google.Being banished from the search engine’s listings is a frequent experience for determined spammers but Shivaun Raff, Foundem’s chief executive and co-founder, and Adam Raff, its chief technology officer, have never seen themselves that way; nor, they think, has Google. The problem was that they couldn’t get Google to explain precisely why it had removed them. The banishment lasted three years, they say. In that time their “vertical search” engine – which, rather than Google’s “horizontal” gaze across the internet, looks deep inside particular sites, notably shopping sites such as Kelkoo and Kayak – couldn’t get noticed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/nov/30/google-foundem-ec-competition-rulesE.U. Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Google
The top European antitrust regulator opened an investigation into Google on Tuesday to examine allegations that the Internet giant has abused its dominance in online search.The move follows complaints by specialized search-related companies about “unfavorable treatment of their services in Google’s unpaid and sponsored search results,” the European Commission said in a statement.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/technology/01google.htmlE.U. launches formal antitrust investigation into Google
The European Commission, the European Union’s executive body, said Tuesday it has opened a formal antitrust investigation into Google’s search practices. The E.C. said in a release it will focus on whether Google illegally used its dominance in search to lower the rankings of unpaid search results from competitors while giving preferential rankings to its own services.In a statement, it said, “This initiation of proceedings does not imply that the Commission has proof of any infringements. It only signifies that the Commission will conduct an in-depth investigation of the case as a matter of priority.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/11/eu_launches_formal_antitrust_i.htmlGoogle investigated over alleged antitrust violations
The European Commission has opened an investigation into Google’s search engine business to discover whether it should be fined for abusing its dominant market position to benefit itself at the expense of competitors.The Commission is acting on complaints from three companies which said that their web search and price comparison businesses were affected by Google behaviour designed to encourage web searchers to use its own services.
http://out-law.com/page-11634Google probe opens up complex issues
When regulators in Brussels and Washington last looked into whether the algorithms embedded in a search system gave unfair preference to some results over others, they decided that intervention was in order.That was more than two decades ago, and involved reservation systems used to hunt for the best deals on fares in the airline industry.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f2ff5f2a-fcb4-11df-bfdd-00144feab49a,dwp_uuid=9a36c1aa-3016-11da-ba9f-00000e2511c8.htmlWhat the EU wants to investigate
Allegation 1: Google has abused its dominant market position in online search by giving preferential placement to its own vertical search or price comparison services at the expense of its rivals.
Google says: It has never taken action to intentionally hurt competing services, and its aim is “to provide the best results for users”. It says there were “compelling reasons” why e-justice and Foundem services were ranked lowly by its algorithms.Allegation 2:Google has lowered the “quality score” for sponsored links of competing vertical search services. The quality score influences the likelihood of an advertisement being displayed by Google and can affect its ranking, as well as the price paid to Google by advertisers.
Google says: All search engines use quality scores to assess the relevance of adverts to particular queries and whether websites provide useful information. It says it tells advertisers about their quality scores and it is “easy” to get tips on how to improve these.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d1937efc-fc91-11df-a9c5-00144feab49a,dwp_uuid=9a36c1aa-3016-11da-ba9f-00000e2511c8.htmlAntitrust: Commission probes allegations of antitrust violations by Google [news release]
The European Commission has decided to open an antitrust investigation into allegations that Google Inc. has abused a dominant position in online search, in violation of European Union rules (Article 102 TFEU). The opening of formal proceedings follows complaints by search service providers about unfavourable treatment of their services in Google’s unpaid and sponsored search results coupled with an alleged preferential placement of Google’s own services. This initiation of proceedings does not imply that the Commission has proof of any infringements. It only signifies that the Commission will conduct an in-depth investigation of the case as a matter of priority.Google’s internet search engine provides for two types of results when people are searching for information. These are unpaid search results, which are sometimes also referred to as “natural”, “organic” or “algorithmic” search results, and third party advertisements shown at the top and at the right hand side of Google’s search results page (so-called paid search results or sponsored links).The Commission will investigate whether Google has abused a dominant market position in online search by allegedly lowering the ranking of unpaid search results of competing services which are specialised in providing users with specific online content such as price comparisons (so-called vertical search services) and by according preferential placement to the results of its own vertical search services in order to shut out competing services. The Commission will also look into allegations that Google lowered the ‘Quality Score’ for sponsored links of competing vertical search services. The Quality Score is one of the factors that determine the price paid to Google by advertisers.1The Commission’s probe will additionally focus on allegations that Google imposes exclusivity obligations on advertising partners, preventing them from placing certain types of competing ads on their web sites, as well as on computer and software vendors, with the aim of shutting out competing search tools. Finally, it will investigate suspected restrictions on the portability of online advertising campaign data to competing online advertising platforms2.What is the legal base for the decision?The legal base of this procedural step is Article 11(6) of Council Regulation No 1/2003 and article 2(1) of Commission Regulation No 773/2004.Article 11(6) of Regulation No 1/2003 provides that the initiation of proceedings relieves the competition authorities of the Member States of their authority to apply the competition rules laid down in Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty.Article 2 of Regulation No 773/2004 provides that the Commission can initiate proceedings with a view to adopting at a later stage a decision on substance according to Articles 7-10 of Regulation No 1/2003.The Commission has informed the company about this decision. The Competition Authorities of the Member States have also been informed.There is no legal deadline to complete inquiries into anticompetitive conduct. Their duration depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of each case and the extent to which the undertakings concerned co-operate with the Commission.1 : The Quality Score influences the likelihood of an ad to be displayed by Google and its ranking. If two advertisers are using the same key words, the site which has a lower Quality Score will have to offer a higher price to rank at the same place.2 : An online advertising platform is a virtual marketplace that brings together advertisers and publishers offering advertising space on the internet.
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/1624
EU launches antitrust probe into alleged Google antitrust abuses
The European Commission has launched an investigation into Google after other search engines complained that the firm had abused its dominant position.