Google could face $9 billion fine for rigging shopping service

[baydude]

EU antitrust regulators aim to slap a hefty fine on Alphabet unit Google over its shopping service before the summer break in August, two people familiar with the matter said, setting the stage for two other cases involving the US company.

The European Commission's decision will come after a seven-year investigation into the world's most popular internet search engine was triggered by scores of complaints from both US and European rivals.

The EU competition authority accused Google in April 2015 of distorting internet search results to favour its shopping service, harming both rivals and consumers.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...g-alphabet-shopping-service-a7768621.html?amp

 

[hal2kilo]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...g-alphabet-shopping-service-a7768621.html?amp

I hope they do get there asses sued on this vary subject. I actually remember when search engines were agnostic and objective.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...g-alphabet-shopping-service-a7768621.html?amp

I do find it peculiar that one can be sued based on how information is presented in their own environment... I mean, google doesn't have to be used, someone can just as easily use another search engine.

I don't agree with the principle of prioritizing your own products or whatever but again, it's their product, not a common resource. I had the same issue with the whole Windows IE fiasco.

 

[crashtech]

I'd hope that most online shoppers have discovered on their own that Google results are not 100% trustworthy when seeking the best deal. Still, it's handy for finding scarce items as well as corrected and/or alternate part numbers, things like that. Caveat emptor, always.

 

[edcoolio]

This lawsuit is typical European legal garbage. It's like suing Macy's because when you asked the person that worked there, "What is the best pair of jeans?", they walked you over to their jeans department and showed you what they themselves thought were the best pair of jeans.

In a free society, if you do not like something (like Google), you are free not to use it and even create your own.

Use Yahoo, use Bing, use "whatever". For God's sake, it is a free service!

Now, all of this having been said, I sincerely hope that Google steps back from the abyss and kills mobile "AMP" search services and runs their search engine cleanly. Duck Duck Go and Startpage also seem to help clean things up, but the Google search underpinnings can be problematic for the more paranoid.

For example, because of Google AMP, I have switched to Bing on portable devices. At least the Ads are clearly marked on Bing.

 

[WHAMPOM]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...g-alphabet-shopping-service-a7768621.html?amp

First of all post a comment OP.
second: Google is free, users would have to pay for Google Search to show any breach of contract and Google makes no promise of impartiality for its free use.

 

[theeedude]

Interesting. I know Google conspired with Apple, Adobe, and Intel to keep down engineer pay by not hiring from each other, and got away with a wrist slap compared to how much money they saved.
I don't know much about the EU shopping suit, but I hope they get slapped down hard.

 

[TeeJay1952]

The original blackmailer (Yellow Pages) like Yelp used it's information service to force contributions.I guess you could create a shopping first, annotated, bargain hunter portal. (Angies List, Craigs List?) and see how it goes.
People vote with their feet (eyes). Do better or more and rewards happen.
Viva Open Internet!

 

[scannall]

Interesting. I know Google conspired with Apple, Adobe, and Intel to keep down engineer pay by not hiring from each other, and got away with a wrist slap compared to how much money they saved.
I don't know much about the EU shopping suit, but I hope they get slapped down hard.

It wasn't so much not hiring. But not cold calling engineers to entice them away from where they were.

 

[theeedude]

It wasn't so much not hiring. But not cold calling engineers to entice them away from where they were.

Which is collusion. So Google has a proven track record of anticompetitive behavior.