Italian competition authorities said Thursday that they were investigating Google, following complaints from publishers that the company was abusing its dominant position on the Internet to deny them a fair share of online advertising revenue.Carlo Malinconico, president of the Italian Federation of Newspaper Publishers, said the group had complained to the antitrust authority about a “lack of transparency” in Google’s search engine and Google News service, which compiles blurbs of news stories on the Web and provides links to them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/technology/companies/28google.htmlAlso see:Italy Opens Antitrust Probe of Local Google News Service
Italy’s antitrust regulator said Thursday it has launched a probe into Google Inc.’s Italian unit for alleged abuse of its dominant position following a complaint from local press.In a statement posted on its Web site, the Italian regulator said it opened the probe Wednesday after the Italian federation of newspaper editors, or Fieg, filed an official complaint.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125137301333663261.htmlItalian newspapers ask competition watchdog to investigate Google News
Italian newspapers have complained to competition regulators that Google’s News service denies them their fair share of online advertising revenue, according to reports. Google has said that dissenting publishers can decline to use the system.Google News publishes headlines and snippets of text produced by newspapers who allow it to use their material. Publishers can easily stop Google from using material published on their newspaper websites.
http://out-law.com/page-10336
Italian Regulators Investigating Google
Italian competition authorities said Thursday that they were investigating Google, following complaints from publishers that the company was abusing its dominant position on the Internet to deny them a fair share of online advertising revenue.