Besides Search, Google has a lot going for it, and its other online services make up a large chunk of its business model. From facilitating ...
Besides Search, Google has a lot going for it, and its other online services make up a large chunk of its business model. From facilitating users to outright promoting their own services, Google has time and again done it at the expense of its competitors. But that might be about to change, as a collection of competitors including Yelp, TripAdvisor etc. launched a new effort this week to convince European antitrust officials to force Google to stop promoting its own services, and give competing services a fair chance.
Focus on the User
The 'alliance' has set up a new website called Focus on the User, which explains their mandate and where the concern stems from that Google is making it more difficult for searchers to discover competing services.
Other companies involved include German health advertising portal Jameda, the Swiss travel site HolidayCheck, and a few consumer groups, including Consumer Watchdog and Fight for the Future.
According to the website;
You might think that Google gives you the best answers from across the web when you search for something as important as a pediatrician in Munich, a bicycle repair shop in Copenhagen, or a hotel in Madrid. But Google doesn’t actually use its normal organic search algorithm to produce the responses to this question that you see prominently on the first screen. Instead, it promotes a more limited set of results drawn from Google+ ahead of the more relevant ones you would get from using Google's organic search algorithm.
Further on, it says;
The European Commission is weighing its options to ensure that consumers searching using Google can access all websites, not just content powered by Google+. We think the best way to do that is using Google’s own organic search algorithm to identify the most relevant results — regardless of their source — from across the Web.
European Union antitrust officials have been investigating complaints that have been filed against Google, which claim the company is taking advantage of its overwhelming market share in EU and tweaking its algorithm to display its own products first.
Google has made three attempts to settle the E.U.’s antitrust concerns, but they have yet to make an offer that has been accepted by the Europeans. For now, the Europeans and Google’s rivals are mostly waiting for Google to make yet another settlement proposal later this year.
What do you think about these claims? Do you think this alliance has something to go up against Google? We sure could do with a little less monopoly, and a lot more competition for information. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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