Google Wins Round Against German Publishers, Who Vow To Fight On
The convoluted saga of Google News in Germany took another turn on Friday when regulators declined to pursue an antitrust claim against the company brought by “VG Media,” a consortium of German publishers including publishing giant Axel Springer. Reuters covered the decision but…
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Indian Govt. Rages At Google Maps Outing Of Secret Bases
In 2013 Google imitated a “mapathon” project in India, offering prizes to encourage people to help fill in gaps and improve Google Maps in the country. At the time, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asked the company not to collect “classified data,” such…
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Spainish Law To Force Google To Index And Pay For Local News
There’s a basic feeling among traditional news publishers throughout Europe, and among some in the US, that Google has benefited enormously from their content but failed to offer anything in return. Furthermore, many publishers see Google as directly responsible for the decline of their…
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Since May 91,000 Right-To-Be-Forgotten Takedown Requests
The Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF) content removal requests in Europe keep coming in. It’s difficult right now to know whether they’re leveling off or continuing to increase. On the first day of availability Google’s RTBF online form, it received 12,000 submissions. Sources familiar…
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Blogger Fined By French Court Because Negative Restaurant Review Was Too Prominent In Google
A French court has ordered a blogger to pay a substantial fine and change the title of a restaurant review because the review was too prominent in search results and harmed business at the restaurant. The review/post has since been removed but can be v…
Google Solicits Feedback On Right To Be Forgotten
Google’s implementation of the EU’s new Right To Be Forgotten mandate has been difficult, to say the least. Which is why Google may have decided to now solicit feedback on their implementation through a new Advisory Council. Google released a page at google.com/advisorycouncil that is…
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Yelp Joins Effort To Undo Current Google-EU Antitrust Settlement
Yelp has been an increasingly vocal critic of Google for several years. Now it has joined a group of companies opposing the European Commission’s current antitrust settlement proposal with Google. Originally Google and Yelp were partners. Google unsuccessfully tried to buy Yelp for a rumored…
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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…
Yes, Google Will Disclose “Right To Be Forgotten” Removals
The Guardian reports that Google may add a indication in the search results that content has been removed due to the Right To Be Forgotten European Union requirements issued last month. Google told us a couple weeks ago that they will indeed add disclo…
Right To Be Forgotten “Small Thing” Vs. Copyright Takedowns Says EU Commissioner
European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding was quoted in a BBC interview saying that the Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF) will be relatively easy for Google to administer. She asserted that, compared to the millions of copyright removal requests Google deals with, the thousands of RTBF requests…
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EU Regulators Meet Amid “Right To Be Forgotten” Confusion
The caution “be careful what you wish for” might be appropriate going into a meeting of 28 European privacy regulators in Brussels this week. Following the European Court of Justice’s creation of the Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF) and Google’s launch of a web form to field…
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Right To Be Forgotten Requests Keep Coming, Now 41,000
As of the end of last week there were roughly 12,000 requests that had been officially submitted to Google under Europe’s judicially created “right to be forgotten” (RTBF) rule. Google launched an online form last week to field the requests. According to the Wall Street Journal…
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China Engaged In Total Censorship Campaign Against Google
The cat and mouse game between China, Google and the internet continues. Today and tomorrow are the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Fearing another anti-government uprising, every year at this time China cracks down on its citizens’ ability to access information about the…
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Google Comparison Ads Under Fire In UK
The UK financial services industry regulator Financial Conduct Authority is taking a closer look at Google Comparison Ads. UK price comparison sites have complained that Google is unfairly competing with them by placing its own “product” at the top of search results. Comparison Ads,…
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Google Maps Now Has Driving Directions In North Korea
North Korea Tech reports that Google Maps now has driving directions in North Korea. As the site reports, “North Korea has strict controls on internal movement, a scarcity of private car ownership and almost no Internet users.” Despite all of that, Google Maps can give those who do have…
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Actress Sues Google For Indexing Porn Search Results Tied To Her Name
Maria Belen Rodriguez is an Argentina-born model, actress and TV personality who now lives and works in Italy. She successfully sued Google and Yahoo in 2006 in her native country, alleging that her likeness was wrongfully appropriated by porn sites and then indexed/republished or disseminated by…
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Is Google’s European Antitrust Settlement In Jeopardy?
Widespread dissatisfaction among public and political figures with the existing antitrust settlement between Google and the European Commission appears to be putting the existing settlement in danger. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the run up to this week’s European Parliament…
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New “Open Internet Project” Seeks To Derail Google-EU Antitrust Settlement
Frustrated by what it sees as the European Commission’s capitulation to Google a new group called the “Open Internet Project” (OIP) seeks to derail the current Google antitrust settlement or create a new investigation. A mixture of French and German publishers and companies are…
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India Opens Second Google Antitrust Investigation Over AdWords
Google is in the midst of an antitrust, anti-competition investigation in India. Not long ago the company was fined by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for not cooperating in that investigation: “not providing information and documents required.” Now a separate…
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Google Readies For Flood Of Removal Requests After EU “Right To Be Forgotten” Ruling
The floodgates have opened. According to a Reuters story, following Tuesday’s European Court ruling establishing a Europe-wide “right to be forgotten” (RTF), Google is preparing for an anticipated “flood” of removal requests across the 28 country jurisdiction. The…
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