Google faces EU probe over doped search results

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 30 Nov 2010 at 11:26

The EU has launched an investigation into whether Google is deliberately doctoring its search results to favour its own services.

The Commission says it will investigate whether Google is abusing its "dominant position" in online search, by giving preference to its own services in both sponsored links and organic results.

The Commission will look into allegations that Google lowered the 'Quality Score' for sponsored links of competing vertical search services

The search engine stands accused of "lowering the ranking of unpaid search results of competing services which are specialised in providing users with specific online content such as price comparisons (so-called vertical search services) and by according preferential placement to the results of its own vertical search services in order to shut out competing services," the EU said in a statement.

"The Commission will also look into allegations that Google lowered the 'Quality Score' for sponsored links of competing vertical search services. The Quality Score is one of the factors that determine the price paid to Google by advertisers."

Furthermore, the Commission will investigate claims that Google prevents advertising partners from placing certain types of ads on other sites, with exclusivity deals designed to head off potential rivals.

It will also examine whether Google prevents advertisers from exporting data about their marketing campaigns to rival platforms.

Impartial results?

The investigation follows complaints from a British price comparison site, Foundem, and a French search engine.

Foundem filed a complaint to the EU in February, arguing that Google routinely gives preference to its own price-comparison service - Google Shopping - in organic search results. Foundem claims that tweaking the search results propelled Google Shopping from an "ailing bit player to US market leader virtually overnight".

“There is a growing chasm between the enduring public perception of Google’s search results as comprehensive and impartial, and the reality that they are increasingly neither,” said Foundem’s CEO and co-founder Shivaun Raff.

The EU stresses it has no proof of any infringement, but will investigate the allegations made against Google as "a matter of priority".

Google has denied any wrongdoing. "Since we started Google we have worked hard to do the right thing by our users and our industry - ensuring that ads are always clearly marked, making it easy for users to take their data with them when they switch services and investing heavily in open-source projects," the company claimed in a statement.

"But there’s always going to be room for improvement, and so we’ll be working with the Commission to address any concerns.”

Addressing Foundem's allegations specifically, Google said: "We built Google for users, not websites, and the nature of ranking is that some websites will be unhappy with where they rank. Those sites have complained and even sued us over the years, but in all cases there were compelling reasons why their sites were ranked poorly by our algorithms.

"For example, Foundem, one of the sites that has complained publicly and to the European Commission, duplicates 79% of its website content from other sites, and we have consistently informed webmasters that our algorithms disadvantage duplicate sites."