Google won a case against a publisher who contended that Google cost him money due to them basically being a monopoly. The publisher ranked number one on Bing and Yahoo for neighborhoods in San Francisco but was not in a top postition on Google. Now this is something that we have seen many times where someone feels Google is dominating search, they have used carousel ads or a shopping display, etc… The thing about it is Google is a private enterprise not a public service, they have become such a vital everyday tool for so many that they feel like a public service. The flipside that monopoly power can cause quite a backlash, that backlash is taking place in Europe against Google where they control 90% of the market in many areas.
Search Engine Land covered the case:
Europe and the U.S. continue to drift further apart on Google. Even as European parliamentarians and regulators seek ways to restrain Google’s discretion over search results, U.S. courts continue to affirm Google’s right to do whatever it wants with search results — paid and organic.
A California state court in San Francisco recently granted Google’s case-ending motion in lawsuit against the company (per GigaOm). The action, filed in June of this year in San Francisco Superior Court, was called S. Louis Martin vs. Google Inc.
Drafted and filed by the non-attorney publisher of San Francisco Bay Area Tourism website CoastNews.com, the complaint alleged unfair and deceptive business practices against Google.
The basic factual allegations included the claim that CoastNews ranked at the top of search results on Bing and Yahoo for San Francisco neighborhood keywords but didn’t rank in a comparable position on Google. Plaintiff Martin asserted that Google’s unfair and monopolistic business practices cause him lost revenue and future growth and harmed consumers, as well.
Read the full article on Search Engine Land
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