European Commission to Investigate Claims of Google Search Fraud
The European Commission is opening a preliminary investigation on Google after allegations of anti-competitive behaviour surfaced from three European companies. The complaints have been traced to the British comparison shopping site Foundem, a French legal search engine called ejustice.fr, and Ciao, a British e-commerce site. All three sites allow users to immediately compare and contrast search results, which is why they are categorised as vertical search engines. These sites allege that Google's search algorithms were deliberately ranking their vertical search engines lower, resulting in a significant loss in traffic.
Google denied any wrongdoing in the matter, noting that two of the companies filing complaints were owned or had close ties to Microsoft, Google's primary competitor in the Internet search market. A spokesperson for Google also defended its integrity by stating: "We've always worked hard to ensure that our success is earned the right way - through technological innovation and great products, rather than by locking in our users or advertisers, or creating artificial barriers to entry."