Forum Moderators: goodroi
Europe Ready to File Anti-Trust Charges Against Google
A decision to file charges against Google would kick off the EU’s highest-profile antitrust suit since its lengthy campaign that started a decade ago against Microsoft Corp., which paid the bloc €1.7 billion ($1.8 billion) in fines through 2012.
In addition to search, the commission has been investigating whether Google has been “scraping” content from rivals’ sites, and unfairly restricting advertisers and software developers who do business with the search giant. A draft conclusion prepared in March 2013 by the European Commission took the “preliminary view” that Google was abusing its dominant position in all four areas.
This is your permission to offer or not.
This is your permission to offer or not. At least that would be my basic argument to the courts.
Our second concern relates to the way Google copies content from competing vertical search services and uses it in its own offerings. Google may be copying original material from the websites of its competitors such as user reviews and using that material on its own sites without their prior authorisation. In this way they are appropriating the benefits of the investments of competitors. We are worried that this could reduce competitors' incentives to invest in the creation of original content for the benefit of internet users. This practice may impact for instance travel sites or sites providing restaurant guides.
[edited by: fathom at 7:00 pm (utc) on Apr 2, 2015]
(European Parliament) The motion passed as expected by 384 votes to 174 with 56 MEPs abstaining, and encourages the European commission (EC) to consider unbundling Google’s search business from its advertising and other businesses.
fathom,
why a webmaster sue or ask google to remove content...it must be google responsibility as they r making profit from webmaster's content
That's not likely to happen, but clearly, Europe has a very different cultural view on antitrust than the US does.
And in the end, European taxpayers and businesses will foot the bill.
Last time, Microsoft ended up with the bill :)
And now the European Commission is Microsoft's bitch. :-)
It does seem to be more about protecting competitors than about protecting end users.
I would say that is a pretty accurate assessment.
And as such it is anything but "far left".
Semantics... Organic results and KG are free.
They technically make nothing from SERPs.
Correct, except if there is no content to scrape(e-com store for example goes belly up), they could stick another Amazon listing in its place and charge the rest of leftovers 1$+ for AdWords.
If you think google have behavioured fairly or reasonably in last five years you should be their lawyer.... or get an IQ test
@fathom
If you think google have behavioured fairly or reasonably in last five years you should be their lawyer.... or get an IQ test
The culture within the EU on monopolies is pretty far left.
Unlike the USA the EU has little tolerance for monopolies or near monopolies in their economy.
Unlike the USA the EU has little tolerance for monopolies or near monopolies in their economy.
Until we have more search competition here in the USA, I'll ask Google how far I need to jump when they tell me to jump.
So it's ironic that the USA has FAR more search competition than Europe - where Google's market share is typically around 90%.
The U.S. produced Google and Bing (among others), Russia produced Yandex, China produced Baidu, and the EU produced [drumroll] Foundem?
