Jun 6, 2013 at 7:48pm ET by Matt McGee

The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is accusing Google of continuing to give consumers access to illegal and counterfeit goods -- including drugs -- in its search results, and is allowing sites that deal in such goods to advertise with Google. NAAG has asked Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page to discuss its concerns at a national meeting of state attorneys general that's happening June 17-19 in Boston. There's no formal statement that I can find on the NAAG website, but both USA Today and the Mississippi Business Journal are quoting that state's AG, Jim Hood, co-chair [...]

Google Refuses Hollywood Studio Requests To De-List File Storage Site Mega

May 29, 2013 at 11:55am ET by Amy Gesenhues

In recent weeks, Hollywood studios NBC Universal and Warner Bros both submitted DMCA takedown requests asking Google to de-list the file storage website Mega from its search index. According to a report on TorrentFreak, NBC Universal claimed Mega's homepage linked to the NBC-owned film Mama, while Warner Bros alleged Mega made pirated copies of its film Gangster Squad available from its website. Since Mega's homepage doesn't link to any files, Google did not remove the website from its search index. Launched in January of this year, Mega is the successor site of Megaupload, a fil [...]

EU Says More Google “Concessions” Needed Before Antitrust Settlement

May 28, 2013 at 10:22am ET by Greg Sterling

The vigorous lobbying efforts of Google critics FairSearch.org and Foundem's SearchNeutrality.org seem to be paying off. Earlier today EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told members of the European Parliament that additional "concessions" would probably be required of Google to settle the antitrust investigation against the company and avoid litigation and potential financial penalties. According to Reuters, Almunia said the following: After [all the settlement proposal feedback is received] we will analyze the responses we have received, we will ask Google, probably, I cannot an [...]

German “Ancillary Copyright” Law To Go Into Effect, Imposes Limits On Search Results

May 16, 2013 at 10:57am ET by Greg Sterling

According to a report from IDG News, a "toned down" version of an earlier, more restrictive "ancillary copyright" law has been published in Germany and will go into effect in August. The ”ancillary copyright” rule was proposed in August of 2012. In its initial form it would have required Google and others that indexed or aggregated news to pay for links or excerpts from those news items -- essentially a "link tax." The law was pushed by German magazine and newspaper publishers that see the Internet and Google, in particular, as the cause of many of their subscription, readership and [...]

Wired Revisits Story Of Federal Sting & $500M Penalty Over Google’s Pharmacy Ads

May 15, 2013 at 9:16am ET by Matt McGee

Wired is telling the story of David Whitaker, a federal prisoner that helped the U.S. government catch Google breaking the law by allowing and helping foreign pharmacies sell drugs via Google AdWords. It's a story you may have heard before; the Wall Street Journal did a similar exposé on Whitaker and the federal sting operation in early 2012. Wired tells how Whitaker used a pseudonym and convinced Google AdWords reps to help him tweak his pharmacy websites so that they'd be approved for AdWords. To prove that Google's behavior was widespread, Whitaker went through a different rep—one [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google | Google: AdWords | Google: Legal | Legal: Regulation

German Court Says Google Must Block Libelous Words Added Via Autocomplete Function

May 14, 2013 at 1:33pm ET by Amy Gesenhues

In a surprising turn of events, Germany's top civil court overturned two lower court rulings on a case involving Google's autocomplete function. According to the ruling, it is Google's responsibility to block libelous words that appear next to a name via the autocomplete function if Google has been alerted to the defamatory words. The plaintiff in the case was an unidentified nutritional supplements company that filed the lawsuit against Google because the German-language site's autocomplete function was adding the terms "Scientology" and "fraud" to the company's name in search queries. The [...]

Taiwanese Research Firm Claims Patent Law Suit Against Google Search Products

May 14, 2013 at 11:44am ET by Amy Gesenhues

Institute for Information, located in Taipei, Taiwan, has brought a patent lawsuit against Google in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. According to the case, the research institution claims Google Search, Google+ Local and Google Places infringes on the Institute for Information's patented information retrieval system. The patent in question was issued to the Institute for Information in January of 2005. Titled, "Information retrieval system with a neuro-fuzzy structure," under US Patent Number 6,845,354, Law360.com stated the Institute for Information's patent covers [...]

Google Wins Vertical Search Antitrust Case In Germany

May 7, 2013 at 2:36pm ET by Greg Sterling

In a German case that could have broader antitrust implications in Europe, Google defeated a petition for an injunction brought by a German online weather trade group, Verband Deutscher Wetterdienstleister. The case is interesting because it involves a private antitrust action against Google and directly addresses the "search bias" argument made by Google critics. The case and petition for injunction against Google were brought on behalf of third party publishers by the weather association. I obtained an English translation of the German court's opinion. The translation is a bit awkward [...]

Google Ignites Controversy By Using “Palestine” On Homepage

May 6, 2013 at 11:54am ET by Greg Sterling

Google has been at the center of heated geo-political controversy before, usually around disputed place names or borders on maps. A new controversy, however, has arisen about one of Google's international homepages: Google.ps. That's the page previously dedicated to the "Palestinian Territories." On May 1 Google dropped "territories" and now calls it "Google Palestine." This move follows UN recognition of the Palestinians last November as a "non-member state." The name change was condemned by Israeli authorities immediately after it happened. According to the Jerusalem Post D [...]

Google’s New European “Antitrust” Search Results: Here’s What They’ll Look Like

Apr 25, 2013 at 12:31pm ET by Greg Sterling

I've found documents associated with the Google-EU settlement proposal that offer mock-ups of how the new, regulated SERPs will look. It's very interesting and greatly clarifies the settlement terms and how they will be implemented practically. These mockups look quite different (and less "disruptive") than what I imagined. There are three basic scenarios: where Google sees direct monetization from the SERP, indirect monetization in the vertical or no monetization (e.g., News in Europe). In each case the presentation and the rules will be slightly different. The screens below are all mock- [...]

EU Goes Public With Google Antitrust Proposals, “Market Test” FAQs

Apr 25, 2013 at 10:16am ET by Greg Sterling

The EU released documents this morning that detail Google's antitrust settlement proposals and explain the Competition Commission's position on various aspects of the investigation. First here's what the EU says Google has proposed: Google offers for a period of 5 years to: (i) - label promoted links to its own specialised search services so that users can distinguish them from natural web search results, - clearly separate these promoted links from other web search results by clear graphical features (such as a frame), and - display links to three rival specialised search services c [...]

Is Google’s Antitrust Settlement Offer To Europe Dead On Arrival?

Apr 24, 2013 at 1:17pm ET by Greg Sterling

The European Union has "accepted" Google's formal antitrust settlement proposal -- subject to "market testing." As a practical matter, that means EU Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia is circulating it among Google's critics and competitors for reaction. However, there has already been plenty of (negative) reaction based on the information that came out last week in news reports. That leads to the question: is Google's settlement proposal dead on arrival? And if so, what will Almunia and the Europeans do? Is litigation inevitable? The issue that Google's competitors and critics ca [...]

German Privacy Regulator Fines Google Over Street View Data Collection, Calls For Tougher Financial Penalties

Apr 22, 2013 at 9:48am ET by Greg Sterling

A fine of 145,000 EUR (roughly $189,000) is trivial for Google. But that's close to the maximum fine allowed by German law ($150,000 EUR). The fine is being imposed on Google for violations of German privacy and data protection laws stemming from the so-called "WiSpy" episode in 2008 - 2009 in which Google collected private emails and other personal data via its Street View cars and their efforts to map Wi-Fi locations around the world. Google was fined 100,000 EUR by French authorities for the same violations in 2011. These amounts are insignificant to Google, which just posted quarterl [...]

Tokyo Court Orders Google To Alter Search Suggestions & Pay Fines

Apr 17, 2013 at 4:41pm ET by Barry Schwartz

AFP reports a Japan court has ruled Google to alter the search suggestions and fined Google 300,000 yen ($3,100). The Tokyo District Court ruled that Google has to change the auto-completions for a search on a particular man's name - the name was undisclosed - because Google provided suggestions that the man committed criminal acts. In addition, Google was ordered to pay the man $3,100 for the mental anguish the search suggestion caused him. What is interesting is that since Google does not operate the search results from within Japan, Google technically does not and historically has not [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Legal | Google: Outside US | Google: Suggest

Google’s EU Antitrust Settlement Includes Labeling, Mandatory Competitive Links And Third Party Enforcement

Apr 15, 2013 at 5:44am ET by Greg Sterling

The proposed terms of the Google antitrust settlement in Europe have started to come to light, first through a report in the Financial Times, and this weekend, in articles from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. As anticipated, the primary "remedy" Google is offering involves labeling its own results to distinguish them from third-party publishers. Yet, there are some new twists and nuances that have not been discussed or disclosed before. They involve third-party enforcement and presentation of competitive links as alternatives to Google's own content. Apparently, the settle [...]

Google (Finally) Gives EU A Formal Settlement Proposal As UK Mapping Rival Files Anti-Competitive Suit

Apr 11, 2013 at 7:37pm ET by Greg Sterling

Google has formally submitted its antitrust settlement proposal to the EU. Wait, didn't that happen weeks ago? Apparently, it did not. While the parties have been talking for months (seems like years), Bloomberg reported today that Google had "formalized" its settlement proposal to avoid potential fines and other penalties. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia is now going to "market test" Google's proposal. What that means as a practical matter is that he will circulate the proposal among Google's critics and rivals for feedback. No doubt, they will be dissatisfied because Googl [...]

EU Leans Toward “Labeling” To Resolve Antitrust Claims Against Google

Apr 9, 2013 at 11:50am ET by Greg Sterling

Those hoping for aggressive regulation or changes in the way Google conducts its search business in Europe will likely be disappointed. A new interview with EU Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia hints at settlement proposals and remedies now being considered in the Google antitrust case. And, they will probably look a lot like what came out of the FTC earlier this year. The interview, published in a New York Times article triggered by the filing of a new antitrust complaint over Android, offers some insights into the state of settlement negotiations between Europe and Google. The [...]

Google Notifying Searchers In EU That They Use Cookies

Apr 8, 2013 at 12:15pm ET by Barry Schwartz

If you search for anything at Google UK or on any of the 27 localized versions of Google in the European Union, Google will now prompt you with a notification that they are using cookies to provide search results to you. In fact, Google says that by using Google search you are agreeing to allow Google to place cookies on your computer. Here is the prompt you will see when searching on Google UK: Clicking on the "learn more" link takes you to this page where Google explains what cookies are and how they may use them. Google also shares a video which you can watch that explains this, a [...]

Google Shuts Down Payday Loan Advertiser’s Campaigns Over The Weekend

Apr 8, 2013 at 10:46am ET by Ginny Marvin

According to TheDrum.com, Google pulled all paid search ads run by Moneysupermarket.com as part of a crackdown on payday loan vendors that disregard AdWords' policies. The Drum reports: Google pulled all Moneysupermarket’s domain level ads including all campaigns across car and home insurance on Saturday (6 April) evening. The ads were down for over 24 hours before the issues were rectified by Moneysupermarket, according to sources. The U.S. government has been stepping up pressure on Google to enforce its policies for payday loan advertisers to be in compliance with state and local re [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Google: Legal | Search Marketing | Top News

Google’s Mapping Contest In India Creates Uproar

Apr 8, 2013 at 9:15am ET by Greg Sterling

Google has run up against some of India's restrictive laws in the past, most notably in the context of vague and expansive censorship rules for content and search results. A new episode involves a crowdsourced mapping contest run by the company to obtain data for Google Maps. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Google ran a "Mapathon" contest in February and March offering prizes in exchange for information about local places, facilities and businesses: The Internet company invited amateur mappers as well as mapping enthusiasts to add local information through its Google Map Make [...]

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