Google says DMA changes in EU resulted in worse degradation of search quality ever
Google said "the changes mark the largest reduction in quality of service at the world's most popular internet search engine in its 29-year search history."
Topic: Law of the European Union
Meta is passing Europe’s digital taxes directly to advertisers
Meta will start billing advertisers directly for Europe's digital services taxes starting July 1 — adding up to 5% in extra costs on ad spend.
The Digital Markets Act promised fairer search. It’s failing.
Two years after the DMA took effect, user experience is worse, business metrics are down, and Google’s monopoly remains intact.
Google contacts advertisers with a mandatory EU political ads deadline
Advertisers have until March 31 to complete a mandatory EU political ads declaration — or risk falling foul of new European regulation.
Google vs. publishers: What the EU probe means for SEO, AI answers, and content rights
An antitrust case puts AI Overviews, opt-outs, and zero-click visibility under scrutiny amid growing debate over content use and attribution.
Google to enforce EU Political ads rules in ads API and scripts
Advertisers must update API and script workflows by Sept. 3 to avoid campaign disruptions under new EU political ad rules.
Google wins $1.7B EU antitrust fine appeal
$1.7 billion Google fine from the EU overturned, with the Court ruling that the European Commission failed to consider all relevant factors.
Google under investigation in Italy over user consent practices
The investigation into Google's user consent practices for ad profiling could threaten its ability to link user data across its services.
Amazon ordered to publicly share details of ads it serves in the EU
The retail giant is being forced to publish an ads library after losing a legal challenge in the Court of Justice of the EU.
Google issuing suspension threats for non-compliant GDPR consent banners
Google warns site owners they must address potential violations or risk account suspension
Google will provide more targeted ad data to comply with new EU rules
The search engine is taking steps to ensure it complies with the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) or else it may risk a significant financial penalty.
TikTok commits to updating ad policies to better align with EU rules
The social media platform has made significant improvements to safety over the last year, but they still have a long way to go.
New EU regulations compel more transparency for search rankings
Guidelines seek disclosure of major ranking factors by Google, Amazon.
Google will now notify GMB account owners by email when local listings suspended
Seen as a major step forward, the notice still won't explain the reason for a Google My Business account suspension.
French antitrust decision sets the stage for Google to pay for news content in Europe
Google had sought to avoid paying copyright licensing fees by getting publishers to waive them in exchange for being included in search results.
Google to offer browser, search-app choices in Android Europe set-up flow
Users will be asked to choose from among five search and browser apps in randomized order.
EU approves controversial copyright directive aimed at Google, Facebook, Twitter
The new rules, which require member-state approval to go into effect, amount to a kind of 'GDPR for copyright.'
Law and reputation firms generate 21% of Right to Be Forgotten delistings, says Google
New report from Google digs into three years' worth of data on removal requests and exposes the delisting criteria.
European press agencies push for licensing fees for their content from Google, Facebook
It remains to be seen whether European legislators and regulators will pick up the cause, but there's a possibility that they will.
Report: Google to appeal $2.7 billion EU fine
Google still required to make changes to search results during appeal process.
New EU copyright rules: basic fairness or punitive media subsidy?
Europe sees a fairer marketplace, Google sees a bonanza for lawyers.
Google Agrees To Complicated Worldwide “Right To Be Forgotten” Censorship Plan
Google will ensure those within a country where a RTBF request was granted cannot find censored content, regardless of what Google edition they use.
Google To Remove Right-To-Be-Forgotten Links Worldwide, For Searchers In European Countries
Links will no longer show for those in the particular country where a RTBF request was made, regardless of the Google edition they use.
EU Says Process For Reviewing Right To Be Forgotten Appeals Is Working
Of the nearly 2,000 complaints reviewed so far, the EU found the majority of denied RTBF requests were justified.
France Gives Google 15 Days To Apply Right-To-Be-Forgotten To Global Results
EU privacy regulators believe Europe-only application of rule undermines its effectiveness.
Right-To-Be-Forgotten One Year Later: 70 Percent Of Requests Refused
The most often cited reason for RTBF requests is "invasion of privacy."
The Debate Over Whether The “Right To Be Forgotten” Should Apply To Google.com
Both Google and the EU have credible positions on whether RTBF should be applied globally.
Right To Be Forgotten: Google Tells Europe It Won’t Scrub Google.com
European privacy regulators continue to push for an extension of The Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF) to the entire Google index, globally. However Google for the time being has taken the position that it will not remove RTBF results from Google.com. That was reiterated this week by David Drummond, the company’s Chief Legal Officer. He’s […]
EU Issues “Right To Be Forgotten” Criteria
Last week the EU issued formal guidelines surrounding the so-called “Right to Be Forgotten” (RTBF). They are intended to help privacy regulators and search engines implement the RTBF. And they include some controversial elements. I’ve embedded the full document below and won’t try and treat it comprehensively. Below are the formal considerations that the EU […]
French Court Trying To Impose Right-To-Be-Forgotten Decision On Google Worldwide
Google is facing daily fines of €1,000 in France, under a punitive ruling tied to the Right-to-Be-Forgotten (RTBF), unless it removes links to an article from its index globally, according to The Guardian. Several politicians in Europe have recently suggested that the RTBF should extend to all Google results worldwide, not just country level indexes. […]
German Official: Google Should Reveal Its Ranking Algorithm
One of the unanswered questions in the ongoing European-Google antitrust saga is what concrete changes or concessions critics want (or will accept) from Google. One of those things may have just come to light in a Financial Times interview with German justice minister Heiko Maas. Maas asserts in the interview that Google needs to become more “transparent” about its algorithm and […]
UK House Of Lords Condemns Right To Be Forgotten
The House of Lords in the UK has little power in government or policy making except at the margins. Similarly, the British upper house’s recent condemnation of the European Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF) will have little practical impact in the UK or across Europe. Still it’s a dissenting voice from within a European government. […]
Bing Opens Its Right To Be Forgotten Form
Over six weeks after Google launched their form for Europeans who want to make their Right To Be Forgotten request, Microsoft Bing has launched theirs over here. The form does differ from Google’s but both Google and Bing, as well as other search engines, have the obligation to follow the mandate and review each request […]
Google Speaks About Difficult Decisions In Implementing “Vague & Subjective” Right To Be Forgotten
Writing today in the Guardian, Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond spoke to mistakes Google made in removing some links last week under the EU’s new Right To Be Forgotten mandate, as well as the difficulties in implementing the law, including naming some criteria where removals are less likely to happen. Some Links Restored; Removal […]
Google’s EU Censorship Removes Links For More Than Just Names On Their Own
It turns out that those in the European Union asking Google to “forget” links they don’t like that appearing for searches on their names are also getting links removed for any search that involves their names and additional words, rather than just their names alone. Until now, it wasn’t clear that Google was removing links […]
Behavioural Advertising
Lots of people are afraid unnecessarily of behavioural advertising. All it means is that if you have been to a site or bought something, a cookie is dropped on your computer and ad servers read those cookies and try to serve you an ad that is most appropriate to you. The data is anonymised and […]
The EU’s Right To Be Forgotten Is A Mess & How Google’s Making It Worse
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” the saying goes. There are plenty of good intentions with the EU’s Right To Be Forgotten mandate, as well as Google’s attempt to meet new obligations under it. Things are still going to hell regardless. Thanks to the new right, the EU has helped enable convicted […]
Google Notifying Publishers For Right To Be Forgotten Removals
Now that Google has been removing results from the European versions of Google in response to the EU’s Right To Be Forgotten requirements, many webmasters are now receiving notifications of these removals. Last night, around 10 p.m. EST, I received a notification for a site I have verified Webmaster Tools access from. The notice read: […]
Why Everyone In The EU May Look Like They’ve Made A “Right To Be Forgotten” Request In Google
Google began removing listings in response to the EU’s new Right To Be Forgotten mandate last week. As promised, Google is also disclosing to searchers when such removals have happened. However, it is also confusingly reporting that removals may have happened even when they have not. Welcome to Google’s new blanket notice that all name-based […]
Google Begins Removing Search Results Over “Right To Be Forgotten” Demands
Google has begun processing and removing the approved submissions done through the right to the Right To Be Forgotten Form. The Right To Be Forgotten is a European Court Of Justice ruling from May 2014 that EU citizens could request that search engines remove links to pages deemed private, even if the pages themselves remain […]