Google Remarketing Ads Found To Violate Canadian Privacy Law; To Revamp Ad Review System By June
Google has agreed to several concessions after an investigation by Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner found Google in violation of Canada’s privacy rights for the use of sensitive health history in remarketing campaigns. The investigation began last January, when a man…
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EU: Google Antitrust Concessions “Unacceptable” As Second Study Condemns “Rival Links”
European Union competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia announced Friday in a Spanish radio interview that Google’s second round of concessions in its current antitrust settlement proposal were “unacceptable.” The main obstacle to settlement is still Google’s treatment of…
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Canada’s Competition Bureau Escalates Google Antitrust Investigation
Canada’s Competition Bureau (CCB) has indicated that it will proceed with a formal antitrust investigation against Google. The CCB had been engaged in a preliminary inquiry. A new CCB court filing requests a range of documents that will potentially show, according to the CCB, Google’s alleged…
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Sponsored Study Argues Google’s “Rival Links” Don’t Drive Enough CTRs To Rivals
Google’s original antitrust settlement proposal, negotiated with the European Commission, was attacked by Google competitors and critics as being a token concession to competition. Anti-Google lobbying group FairSearch.org sponsored a consumer study that argued Google’s presentation of…
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Court Finds Google’s Book Scanning Is Fair Use: Highlights From The Ruling
Nearly ten years after it began and eight years after Google was sued over it, Google’s program that scans books in order to make them searchable has been found legal. A judge found fair use, especially in that “Google Books does not supersede or supplant books because it is not a tool…
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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…
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French Court Orders Google To Remove Max Mosley Images From Search Engine Results
After making a public plea for the European courts to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former Formula One president Max Mosley, Google found out today the French court has ruled in favor of Mosley and is forcing the search engine to censure search results. A…
Google, Android Makers Sued By Apple “Rockstar” Consortium Over Search, AdWords
Roughly two years ago Google and a consortium of companies competitively bid for the vast patent portfolio of bankrupt Canadian Company Nortel Networks. Google initiated the bidding with $900 million but ultimately was outbid by the Rockstar consortium, consisting of Microsoft, Apple, Blackberry,…
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New Google Antitrust Offer A “Significant Improvement” Says EU
After Google’s competitors loudly complained about the company’s antitrust settlement proposal, which displayed three “rival links” to alternative’ search results, European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said it would take new “concessions” for…
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MPAA: 82 Percent Of Searches Leading To Pirated Content Come From Google
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) today accused Google and other search engines of playing “a significant role” in directing consumers to pirated movies and TV shows, with a special callout for the amount of Google searches that lead to infringing material. It’s the…
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New “Concessions” From Google Seek To Avoid EU Antitrust Penalties
According to Reuters the European Commission (EC) says Google has submitted a new settlement proposal with “further concessions” in its bid to end the antitrust inquiry against the company. If the parties fail to reach agreement the EC has the ability to fine Google a percentage of its…
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Privacy Groups Want Judge To Reject Google’s $8.5 Million Settlement Over Search Privacy Lawsuit
Last month, Google agreed to pay $8.5 million into a settlement fund over a class-action lawsuit by two searchers who accused the company of transmitting their personal information to third parties without their consent or knowledge that the informatio…
With Amazing Chutzpah Google Claims It Can’t Be Sued In UK Courts
Last year Google was embroiled in controversy over its circumvention of the Safari browser’s cookie-privacy settings (on the iPhone and beyond). As a result the company paid a $22.5 million fine to settle the case with the US FTC approximately a year ago. The FTC summarizes the facts that…
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New Research Says Search Engines Have Little To Do With Promoting Pirated Content
A new research paper authored by Matt Schruers and published by the Computer & Communications Industry Association argues that search engines have been unfairly targeted in the quest to impede online copyright infringement. According to the paper, the perception is that search engines are the…
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German Publishers Opt-In To Google News — For The Moment
Following the enactment of a controversial copyright law in Germany, Google said that it would require publishers to formally “opt-in” to Google News or be excluded from results. Accordingly major German publishers have decided to do so — for now. The new law, which went into…
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Bing To Add Alerts For Child Abuse On Pedophile Related Queries; But Google Rejects The Idea
Bing has confirmed they will be adding a new pop-up alert of some sorts for those who search for images of child abuse, according to the BBC. This is to be launched in the UK after the UK Prime Minister attacked Google, Bing & Yahoo over not doing enough to stop child pornography. Google has…
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Google Continues Censoring Piracy Related Search Suggestions By Blocking Grooveshark
TorrentFreak reports Google has added another web site to the piracy block list for their instant search suggestions. The site is named Grooveshark, which is a popular free music streaming service. Google would not comment specifically about Grooveshark but told TorrentFreak, “our algorithms…
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Google Agrees To Settle Lawsuit Over Passing Search Queries To Third Parties
Google has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that stems from two searchers accusing the company of sharing their search queries with third parties without user content or knowledge. As part of the settlement, Google has agreed to pay $8.5 million…
Google’s Schmidt: Hollywood Should Take Content Pirates To Court
Google’s Eric Schmidt says that the entertainment industry should focus on taking content pirates to court, rather than just trying to get Google (and other search engines) to remove pirate sites from search results. His comments, reported by Variety, came yesterday during an impromptu chat…
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Google To State AG’s: We’ve Blocked Over 3 Million Bad Ads From “Rogue Online Pharmacies”
As part of its response to a potential subpoena by the Mississippi attorney general and accusations from The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) earlier this month that Google facilitates the sale of drugs without a prescription, among other illegal transactions, Google legal…
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