This day in search marketing history: January 19
Google's page layout algorithm, plus: Matt Cutts resigns from Google, Top Stories deduplication, mobile usability warnings and more.
Topic: Search neutrality
Google To Get EU “Watchdog” As Part Of Antitrust Settlement
The New York Times is reporting that as part of the anticipated antitrust settlement in Europe Google is likely to be subject to a “watchdog” overseer. This role is explained in a “96-page [job] description” according to the paper: Among the details of the job: The title is monitoring trustee. And although the salary remains […]
Open Letter To EU Competition Commissioner Exerts Pressure For Tougher “Vertical Search” Settlement With Google
Late last week, a group of Google critics, rivals and complainants sent an “open letter” to EU competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia asking him to focus on the “vertical search” or “search neutrality” dimensions of the Google antitrust case. The letter says, essentially, that of the “four areas of concern” raised by the EU over Google’s business practices, this […]
After Years Of Anti-Competitive Complaints Foundem Sues Google In UK Court
Bloomberg reports Google is yet again being sued, this time by UK’s shopping search engine, for alleged anti-competitive practices. This comes a week after the FTC ruled that there is not enough evidence to prove search bias by Google in their search results. Foundem is seeking damages for revenue lost as a result of Google’s […]
Report: Google Seeks To Avoid EU’s Antitrust Wrath By “Labeling” Its Own Services
The Financial Times (FT) is reporting that the thrust of Google’s antitrust settlement proposal to European Competition Czar Joaquín Almunia primarily involves “labeling” its own services to distinguish them from other organic search results. According to the FT, citing “people familiar with the search giant’s submission”: Under the proposal, Google would put its brand on any […]
Settlement Of Google-Europe Antitrust Claims Might Involve Labeling “Google Products” In SERP
This morning I read Danny Sullivan’s letter to the FTC about paid inclusion and search engine disclosures. It was prompted by NexTag CEO Jeffrey Katz’s article last week in the Wall Street Journal complaining about Google’s market dominance and alleged abuse of that position. Contained within Danny’s article is a potential face-saving solution to the […]
Google Faces July 2 Deadline To Settle EU Antitrust Claims — Or Else
European Commission (EC) antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia is engaged in what amounts to a poker game with Google — or if you like a “game of chicken.” In a highly public and slightly uncharacteristic move the EC offered to not bring a formal antitrust complaint against the company if it voluntarily addresses four issues or […]
EU Offers To Settle With Google Over Anti-Trust Claims
European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia issued a statement this morning offering “preliminary conclusions” of the EU’s investigation of numerous antitrust complaints against Google. It lays out “concerns” about Google’s market power in four areas. Almunia acknowledges Google’s prior statements about a willingness to settle and suggests that if a settlement can be reached Europe and […]
Second Google-Sponsored Legal Report Argues Government Would Lose Antitrust Case
Google is playing a sophisticated form of “head games” with antitrust regulators. A second legal report-cum-brief (embedded below) has appeared. It argues that antitrust challenges against Google are likely to fail because Google’s critics’ arguments lack legal merit and/or make little sense from a policy perspective. The report was written by lawyers from the Ammori […]
Does The First Amendment Create A Complete Defense For Google Against Antitrust Regulation?
Google now faces antitrust investigations on multiple continents. The US FTC recently hired a prominent outside litigator in a sign that it may be preparing to bring an action against the company. But does Google have a “slam dunk” defense against such a case (at least in the US) under the First Amendment of the […]
Search Engines Should Be Like Santa From “Miracle On 34th Street”
That didn’t take long. In my coverage today about the new Google “Search Plus Your World” feature, I detailed how part of it gave hefty ammunition to claims that Google is abusing its dominant position in search. The anti-trust charges have now already started. Here’s the short story why. Imagine, Sending People To Other Stores! One of […]
Dear Congress: It’s Not OK Not To Know How Search Engines Work, Either
Did watching elected representatives debate SOPA last week without understanding some fundamentals of the internet rattle your nerves? Welcome to my world of watching the same thing happen about Google and search. In September, the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights held a hearing called “The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or […]
Study: Bing More “Biased” Than Google; Google Not Behaving Anti-Competitively
Does Google favor its own sites in search results, as many critics have claimed? Not necessarily. New research suggests claims that Google is “biased” are overblown, and that Google’s primary competitor, Microsoft’s Bing, may actually be serving Microsoft-related results “far more” often than Google links to its own services in search results. In an analysis […]
Does The FairSearch White Paper On Google Being Anticompetitive Hold Up?
FairSearch, a group of search companies including Microsoft which lobbies that Google is too dominant, has sent a white paper outlining its anti-trust concerns about Google to the 50 state attorneys general in the US. Below, a review and some fact checking of the paper. You’ll find the paper here, if you wish to read […]
Google Wins Potentially Significant Antitrust Victory In Ohio
Google has won a potentially significant legal victory in an Ohio case that involved antitrust claims and may portend victory in other similar cases where private litigants have asserted antitrust violations against Google. The case, which we’ve written about before is Google v. myTriggers.com, originally filed in late 2009. The short version of the underlying […]
In Antitrust “Complaint Du Jour” French Daily Deals Company Files Claim Against Google
In what is becoming a steady parade of antitrust claims against Google in Europe, another complaint has been filed by a French company. This latest (10th) antitrust complaint was filed with the European Commission by a French daily deals site called “Deal du Jour.” The company claims “Google illegally removed its site from its web […]
EU Antitrust Complaints Against Google Grow To Nine
Anonymous complainants have thrown more fuel on the antitrust fire. Additional complaints have reportedly been filed against Google with European regulators. According to Reuters, the total number of complaints now comes to nine. Previously there were four formal complaints before the European Commission: Ciao (owned by Microsoft) Ejustice.fr (which has also filed a civil suit) […]
Googleopoly: The Definitive Guide To Antitrust Investigations Against Google
We’re another step closer to the US Federal Trade Commission launching an expected antitrust investigation of Google. If it does, the FTC will join the EU and Texas in doing broad investigations. But Google’s been examined for antitrust issues many times before this and mostly come through OK. Here’s our comprehensive guide to Google and […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 11, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: IAC Revises And Re-Ups Its Deal With Google IAC, the parent of Ask.com, the Daily Beast and Citysearch, today announced it has amended and extended its distribution agreement with Google through […]
Google’s Travel Opponents Hoping Bigger Antitrust Case Will Soon Follow
One area that the Justice Department’s Google-ITA settlement didn’t cover was so-called “search neutrality.” In a nutshell, this is the misguided notion that Google shouldn’t be permitted to send traffic to its own properties. In the extreme it argues that the government should regulate Google’s algorithm as well. While the term “search neutrality” carries a […]
Microsoft Comes Out Of Shadows With EU Antitrust Complaint Against Google
In the past Microsoft has been accused of orchestrating third party legal complaints against Google like some behind-the-scenes Cardinal Richelieu or puppet master. But now Redmond has come out of the shadows and joined the list of companies that have filed formal complaints against Google in Europe. “Microsoft is filing a formal complaint with the […]
Report: Google Negotiating With DOJ To Prevent Suit To Block ITA Deal
Politico is reporting, as have other outlets, that Google and the Justice Department (DOJ) are now negotiating intensely in the waning days of its investigation into the anti-trust implications of Google’s potential acquisition of travel software company ITA. According to the Politico article: The Justice Department has made it clear to Google that it’s willing […]
DOJ Exploring “Search Fairness” With Google As Rivals Protest Potential ITA Licensing Deal
On Friday Reuters reported that Google and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) are exploring licensing guarantees as part of a potential “settlement” that would avoid litigation to block Google’s intended purchase of online travel software provider ITA. In addition the report says that the DOJ is also looking closely at issues of “search fairness” […]
Study: Google “Favors” Itself Only 19% Of The Time
For the past year or so, there’s been a rising meme that Google is altering its search results in ways to favor itself over competitors. Now a new study is out showing the opposite. Google is far more likely not to show its own products in the first spot of its search results. The survey […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 19, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Knol Still Alive & Fixed, But Questions Linger About Its Future Google has fixed a bug that temporarily made Knol look like a ghost town this week. And, without exactly […]
Deconstructing “Search Neutrality”
The concept of “search neutrality” that has recently emerged is an attractive idea to many, appealing to notions of even-handedness and fair play. However it completely breaks down when one seriously considers its implications in practice. We’ve written a great deal about the challenges and problems lurking behind “search neutrality.” Now in an academic article, […]
Survey: 77% Of Americans Oppose Search Engine Regulation
Seventy-seven percent of American adults oppose government regulation of search engine results, and frequent Internet users oppose it most strongly. That’s according to Rasmussen Reports’ analysis of a new telephone survey conducted this week.
Once Again: Should Google Be Allowed To Send Itself Traffic?
The question of Google’s right to refer traffic to its own sites is once again in the center of policy debate. The European Commission is looking at this issue as part of its larger anti-trust investigation against Google. It’s also a question at the heart of the federal regulatory review of the ITA acquisition. Preferential […]
Senator Calls On DOJ To Limit Google’s ITA Purchase
Citing a litany of concerns over competition, airfare, and technology, a US Senator is calling on the Justice Department to put conditions on Google’s purchase of travel software company ITA. In a letter to the DOJ on Wednesday, Senator Herb Kohl outlined a number of concerns over Google’s purchase of ITA — the independent software […]
The Incredible Stupidity Of Investigating Google For Acting Like A Search Engine
I did a search at Google today for “cars” and was shocked. Rather than list links allowing me to search for “cars” on Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Voila, Naver and Yandex, Google instead favored its own search results. I’m glad the EU will be investigating whether this favoritism violates anti-trust laws. Consider the evidence. Here’s a […]
Feds Consider Google-ITA Deal: Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t
In what is becoming an annual ritual Google announces a dramatic acquisition, pundits speculate about the potentially market-changing impact and anti-trust investigators give it a long, hard look — only to allow it in the end. Last year the transaction in question was AdMob; this year it’s ITA software. Since the roughly $700 million deal […]
Texas Attorney General Investigating Google & Antitrust Issues
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is conducting an investigation into Google’s business practices as they relate to search listings, in particular whether Google is manipulating its paid and editorial results in a way that violates antitrust laws. We received a tip about the investigation this week, and Google confirmed today that an investigation started in […]
The New York Times Algorithm & Why It Needs Government Regulation
The New York Times is the number one newspaper web site. Analysts reckon it ranks first in reach among US opinion leaders. When the New York Times editorial staff tweaks its supersecret algorithm behind what to cover and exactly how to cover a story — as it does hundreds of times a day — it […]
Companies Ask Courts, Regulators To Restrain Google To Compensate For Own Competitive Failures
In a kind of parallel but interesting variation on the complaints filed in Europe against Google, now being investigated by the European Commission in a preliminary anti-trust inquiry, one of the European complainants Foundem has filed a brief with the US FCC concerning net neutrality. The complaints in Europe, broadly speaking, argue that Google has […]