Leaked 2012 FTC Document Called Google A Monopoly, Recommended Litigation
An “inadvertently disclosed” report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) labels Google a monopoly and appears to directly contradict the decision not to pursue legal action against the company. In early 2013 the FTC formally decided to close its antitrust investigation against Google…
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Google, Wal-Mart Breakup Suggests Problems Ahead For Local Inventory Ads
Research shows that when they’re ready to buy, online shoppers want to know where they can get desired products in local stores. Internet influenced offline spending is many many times larger than e-commerce and results in trillions of dollars in offline transactions annually. However offline…
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Android “Default Search” Class Action Against Google Tossed By Judge
Last week Russian search engine Yandex filed a formal complaint against Google in its home market, arguing that Google was using its control over Android and market power to ensure a privileged position for its apps on Android homescreens and handsets….
Right To Be Forgotten: Google Tells Europe It Won’t Scrub Global Index
European privacy regulators continue to push for an extension of The Right to Be Forgotten (RTBF) to the entire Google index, globally. However Google for the time being has taken the position that it will not remove RTBF results from Google.com. That …
Google “Noticias” On The Homepage Lives On Despite End Of Google News Spain
In the wake of the closure of Google News Spain yesterday “external traffic” had fallen 10 to 15 percent, according to data provided to Mathew Ingram by Chartbeat. However overall traffic at the time of the analysis was relatively stable, suggesting direct navigation. In Germany news…
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Google News Still Available In Spain Despite Closure Deadline
News outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and AP are reporting that Google News España has shut down. However it appears to still be up and available on the site. As Barry Schwartz points out, if you visit news.google.es you’re directed to the following help page. The page offers an…
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Google Faces Potential $19M Privacy Fine In The Netherlands
Google continues to face potential fines for failing to change its privacy policy in Europe. Since the company introduced its “simplified privacy policy” in 2012 it has faced Europe-wide criticism and the threat of fines for violating local data protection laws. Multiple government data…
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Spanish Newspapers Want Government To Force Google To Keep News Open In Spain
A new effort by the Spanish Newspaper Publishers Association (AEDE) to prevent Google from shutting down its News site in Spain is an amazing example of industry chutzpah or hubris. The action shows so much chutzpah in fact that it enters the realm of …
Strict New “Copyright Law” Forces End Of Google News In Spain
Google has decided to shut down Google News in Spain. This drastic step will occur next week and is the result of a recently passed Spanish law that would have compelled Google to pay licensing revenues to Spanish publishers if their content appeared in Google News — even headlines. Some…
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Oh No They Didn’t: European Parliament Calls For Break Up Of Google
Today many Americans are busy preparing Thanksgiving meals or getting ready to travel to the homes of friends and family to celebrate the holiday. But Google certainly won’t be giving thanks for the European Parliament’s vote in favor of a resolution to “unbundle”…
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German Legislator Calling For Google Breakup Has Serious Conflict Of Interest
The German member of the European Parliament behind the call to break up Google, Andreas Schwab, has a conflict of interest. According to the NY Times, he has ties to and earns money from a German law firm that represents anti-Google publishing interests in Germany. German publishers lobbied for…
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Google Settles UK “Defamation” Suit, Agreeing To Remove Malicious Links
Google has long maintained it’s not responsible for third party content in its index. And that’s the law in the US. However increasingly in Europe authorities and individuals are seeking to make Google legally responsible for the content in its search results. The latest example comes…
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Europeans Have Authority To Seek Google Break Up Though Unlikely To Do So
Break Google up. That’s the thrust of a “non-binding” resolution the European Parliament is expected to adopt at some point in the near future, according to a report on Friday from Reuters. The recommendation is likely to be to separate Google’s search engine from the rest…
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Sweden The Latest To Consider Google “Link Tax” For Newspapers
A member of the Swedish parliament, Niclas Malmberg, wants Google to help fund Swedish news publications along the lines of the French model established last year. Threatened with a “link tax,” Google agreed “to create a €60 million Digital Publishing Innovation Fund to help…
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German Publisher Axel Springer: Loss Of Snippets Caused 80 Percent Traffic Drop
Axel Springer, Germany’s largest publisher and the owner of Europe’s largest newspaper, has said it wants back in to snippets. According to Reuters the German publishing giant revealed that traffic to its four largest online properties from Google search results “had fallen by 40…
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Following Germany’s Lead Spain Passes Misguided “Google Tax” Anti-Piracy Law
Given the saga of Germany’s ill-conceived and poorly implemented “ancillary copyright law” one would have thought that another European government wouldn’t immediately duplicate the mistake. But that’s exactly what’s happened in Spain. Spanish…
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German Publishers To Google: We Want Our Snippets Back
German publishers want their snippets and thumbnails back. A consortium of roughly 200 companies, together known as “VG Media,” have said that the loss of traffic from the disappearance of these elements could cause some of their members “to go bankrupt.” The publishers have been…
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Media Companies Republishing Google Right-To-Be-Forgotten Links
Google is notifying publishers when it de-indexes their links under the controversial “Right to Be Forgotten” (RTBF). What this does is often trigger republication of a version of the story by the media outlet or a page that indicates what URLs are being removed from the search index….
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Google’s Eric Schmidt In Berlin: “Really, Our Biggest Search Competitor Is Amazon”
The attitudes of European policy makers toward Google seem to have hardened of late. On various regulatory fronts, Google faces vocal critics and well-organized opposition. Google’s Eric Schmidt gave a speech earlier today in Berlin seeking to change some of those hardened hearts and minds….
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To Avoid Liability, Google Limits German News Content To Headlines
German news and magazine publishers are determined, one way or another, to get Google to pay them for their content. They’re not upset about the content appearing in Google News or search. They want it to appear – they just want Google to pay for it. Google doesn’t want to pay….
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