General Posts
Roundup of Comments on Google’s Proposed Commitments to European Commission
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
The European Commission today announced Google’s proposed commitments to settle allegations that it is abusing its dominance by giving preferential treatment to its own services in display and ranking of search results. Google proposal to label where it promotes its own products above generic search results and offer links to “three rival specialised search services Read more »
FairSearch Statement on Google’s Proposed Commitments to European Commission
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
The European Commission announced it has opened a ‘market test’ of Google’s proposal to settle the EC’s investigation into allegations of an illegal abuse of dominance by Google, and released Google’s proposal here. Thomas Vinje, counsel and spokesman for FairSearch Europe, issued the following statement: “FairSearch applauds the Commission for laying out a clear and Read more »
FairSearch Statement About Coming ‘Market Test’ Launch
Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
The following statement relates to public reports that the European Commission will soon begin a ‘market test’ of Google’s proposal to settle the EC’s investigation into allegations of an illegal abuse of dominance by Google. The most important remedy to Google’s abuse of dominance is to require the search monopoly, which controls 94 percent of Read more »
FTC Chairwoman: Google’s Voluntary Agreement Not Precedent; Search Bias Pro-competitive Though It Harms Competitors
Thursday, April 18th, 2013
Many were disappointed with the Federal Trade Commission’s and Google’s unprecedented voluntary agreement in January on advertising data and the “scraping” or excerpting of content from sites like Yelp. Now, it seems, the chairwoman of the FTC is apparently dismissing the agreement as a one-time deal that other companies should not expect. Additionally, the newly Read more »
Video: FairSearch Panel “Lessons From the Google-FTC Settlement”
Friday, April 12th, 2013
On Wednesday, FairSearch convened a panel, “Lessons from the Google-FTC Settlement,” in Washington, D.C. as thousands gathered to attend the American Bar Association’s Spring antitrust section meeting. More than 125 ABA meeting attendees; consumer advocates; state Attorney General staff from Ohio, Texas, and Tennessee; officials from the FTC and DOJ; and competition authorities from the Read more »
FairSearch Announces Complaint in EU on Google’s Anti-Competitive Mobile Strategy
Monday, April 8th, 2013
The coalition issued the following in a release: FairSearch to EU: Google’s Android A ‘Trojan Horse’ to Dominate Mobile Markets Files Complaint to European Commission On Google’s Anti-Competitive Mobile Strategy BRUSSELS – April 9, 2013 – FairSearch.org has filed a complaint with the European Commission laying out Google’s anti-competitive strategy to dominate the mobile marketplace Read more »
Psychologist Finds Google Could Sway an Election with Search Manipulation
Friday, April 5th, 2013
Research psychologist Richard Epstein has made a provocative and stunning discovery through a series of experiments manipulating search results: Google could sway an election without much notice. According to stories in The Washington Post and PBS, Epstein’s hypothetical Kadoodle search engine found candidates fared far better when favorable links were promoted and unfavorable ones were Read more »
“Google’s Dance” Creates Perceptions That Don’t Match Reality
Thursday, March 28th, 2013
While Google is overwhelmingly an advertising company, consumers see Google as “an information company, pure and simple,” writes Robert Epstein in “Google’s Dance,” a new opinion piece in TIME. Epstein is a Ph.D. research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology. The gulf between Google users’ perceptions and the reality is “troubling,” Epstein writes, Read more »
Consumer Group Calls for Google to Offer ‘Objective, Non-discriminatory’ Search Results
Monday, March 25th, 2013
A European consumer group has echoed FairSearch’s call for strong remedies to end Google’s search bias and anti-competitive practices under investigation by the European Commission. On March 22, BEUC, a consortium of 39 national consumer organizations from thirty European countries, issued a six-page paper on the remedies that should be adopted to resolve Google’s anti-competitive Read more »
FairSearch Strongly Supports Decisive Action by European Commission on Google
Thursday, March 21st, 2013
Thomas Vinje, Brussels-based counsel to FairSearch.org, said today: “Google has had ample opportunity to come forward with serious proposals to end its abuses. The time to act is now. FairSearch would strongly support decisive action by the Commission.” Vinje’s comments follow today’s open letter from 11 companies active in Europe, including FairSearch members Foundem, Expedia, Read more »
