Tag: google antitrust

Google CEO Sundar Pichai Decried Bad ‘Optics’ of Search Engine Deal With Apple
11Oct By adminNo Comments
Technology

Google CEO Sundar Pichai Decried Bad ‘Optics’ of Search Engine Deal With Apple

[ad_1] Google's Sundar Pichai raised concerns years before he became the company's chief executive officer that its deal with Apple Inc. had bad “optics” because there was no choice of which search engine to use in the company's web browser.Emails Pichai wrote in 2007 to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, among other executives, were introduced as evidence in the Justice Department's antitrust case against Alphabet Inc.'s Google, which is underway in Washington. The emails, written when Pichai was in charge of Google's Chrome browser, show concerns about the company's agreement to pay Apple in exchange for being the pre-selected search option on the Safari browser. “I know we are insisting on default, but at the same time I think we should encourage them to have Yahoo as a c...
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DuckDuckGo chief says Google contract stopped deal with Apple
6Oct By adminNo Comments
Technology

DuckDuckGo chief says Google contract stopped deal with Apple

[ad_1] The CEO of privacy-oriented search engine DuckDuckGo said its talks with Apple about a potential contract failed because of Google's multibillion-dollar deals with the smartphone maker, transcripts of a landmark antitrust trial of the Alphabet unit showed.Gabriel Weinberg, who also founded the company, testified on Sept. 21 on the effect on DuckDuckGo of Google's $10 billion in annual payments to smartphone makers and others to keep its search engine as the default on computers or mobile devices. Some of his testimony took place outside of public view. A redacted transcript unsealed late on Wednesday showed DuckDuckGo had struck a deal with Apple in 2014 to be shown as an option on Apple devices. Soon after, DuckDuckGo began pressing Apple to be made the default choice for users ...
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What is Microsoft’s grouse against Google that led to Satya Nadella’s explosive testimony at the trial?
3Oct By adminNo Comments
Technology

What is Microsoft’s grouse against Google that led to Satya Nadella’s explosive testimony at the trial?

[ad_1] Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was invited to testify as a witness for the US government against Google in a massive antitrust trial. The case will establish whether Google illegally created market dominance to push out rivals from existing and operating in the same way. Interestingly, Microsoft is one of the companies that also claims to be affected by Google's alleged monopolistic practices that have kept it out of the search engine business. But what really is Microsoft's grouse against Google? Turns out, it goes a long way back.Microsoft's rivalry with GoogleToday, Google dominates the search engine segment emphatically. However, it did not really get the early bird treatment when it comes to the space. In fact, Google had competition in this space right from the start. The comp...
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Even the Google Trial Is Talking Up the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce Rumors
28Sep By adminNo Comments
Technology

Even the Google Trial Is Talking Up the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce Rumors

[ad_1] ChatGPT doesn't know whether Taylor Swift is dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.That example was used by Microsoft Corp. executive Mikhail Parakhin this week at the US Justice Department's landmark antitrust trial to illustrate how Alphabet Inc.'s market-dominant Google search engine can't be easily replaced or challenged by new technologies, such as chatbots. The OpenAI chatbot allows users to type in a query and receive a written response, but the data used to train the artificial intelligence system is based on older information culled from the web. Without fresh data — the type provided by users searching for new topics like the pop singer's latest beau — it's unlikely to provide an accurate answer. Swift's rumored new boyfriend Kelce, the two-time Super Bowl wi...
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Google Accuses EU of Overreach With €2.4 Billion Shopping Service Abuse Fine
20Sep By adminNo Comments
Technology

Google Accuses EU of Overreach With €2.4 Billion Shopping Service Abuse Fine

[ad_1] The European Union's legal team hit back at Google's fight to strike out a €2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) fine for unfairly favoring its own shopping services — telling judges at the bloc's top court that the case largely boils down to whom they should trust more.The Alphabet Inc. unit is appealing a 2021 ruling by the EU's lower tribunal that backed the European Commission's decision that the firm violated antitrust rules by favoring its own shopping service over those of its rivals. It was forced to change the way it displays shopping search results that might help rivals grab some of the valuable ad space on search pages. But ending an in-the-weeds debate about what legal test should have been correct in this case and the Brussels-based commission's understanding of what competit...
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Google’s Dominance Sparks South African Antitrust Crackdown
1Aug By adminNo Comments
Technology

Google’s Dominance Sparks South African Antitrust Crackdown

[ad_1] Google's dominance in online search has triggered a regulatory crackdown by South Africa's antitrust body.The watchdog determined that Alphabet Inc.-owned Google's search dominance “distorts platform competition” in favor of large market players. It recommended several remedies focused on improving visibility for smaller South African companies in search results to address this. “Google has an influence on platform competition because it is where most online journeys start,” said Competition Commission Chairman James Hodge in a media briefing on Monday. “Google does give prominence to paid results, which means that the largest platforms with the biggest marketing budgets can dominate the Google search page.” The findings are the result of a broad investigation into Google and oth...
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Google asks India’s top court to quash Android antitrust directives
27Jun By adminNo Comments
Technology

Google asks India’s top court to quash Android antitrust directives

[ad_1] Google has urged India's Supreme Court to quash antitrust directives against it for abuse of the Android market, two sources said, as its presses its legal battle against the competition watchdog in one of its most important markets.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in October that Google, whose Android mobile operating system powers 97% of the 600 million smartphones in India, had exploited its dominant position. It ordered Google to remove restrictions imposed on device makers, including those related to the pre-installation of apps, and fined the U.S. firm $163 million, which it paid. In March, an Indian tribunal gave partial relief to the Alphabet Inc unit by setting aside four of the 10 directives in the case.The tribunal said CCI's findings of Google's anti-com...
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Indian startups go to court to stop Google’s new in-app billing system
12Apr By adminNo Comments
Technology

Indian startups go to court to stop Google’s new in-app billing system

[ad_1] A group of Indian startups has asked a court to suspend Alphabet Inc Google's new in-app billing fee system until the country's antitrust body investigates the U.S. firm for alleged non-compliance with its directives, a legal filing showed.The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) last month asked India's antitrust regulator to investigate Google for devising a new system startups say still charges them a high service fee, despite an antitrust directive in October to allow use of third-party billing services for in-app payments. In its April 10 filing at the Delhi High Court, ADIF argues that the antitrust body is yet to hear its complaint promptly even as Google's April 26 implementation date of the so-called User Choice Billing system (UCB) is nearing. The 744-page filing...
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South Korea fines Google $32 million for blocking release of games on competitor’s platform
11Apr By adminNo Comments
Technology

South Korea fines Google $32 million for blocking release of games on competitor’s platform

[ad_1] South Korea's antitrust regulator has fined Alphabet Inc's Google 42.1 billion won ($31.88 million) for blocking the release of mobile video games on a competitor's platform.The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said on Tuesday that Google bolstered its market dominance, and hurt local app market One Store's revenue and value as a platform, by requiring video game makers to exclusively release their titles on Google Play in exchange for providing in-app exposure between June 2016 and April 2018. The KFTC said the move against the U.S. technology giant is part of efforts by the government to ensure fair markets. Game makers affected by Google's action include Netmarble, Nexon and NCSOFT, as well as other smaller companies, the antitrust regulator added.In 2021, Google was fined m...
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Google Maps Face Renewed Scrutiny by DOJ’s Antitrust Lawyers
24Feb By adminNo Comments
Technology

Google Maps Face Renewed Scrutiny by DOJ’s Antitrust Lawyers

[ad_1] The US Justice Department is investigating Google's dominance in mapping, reviving a thread of its long-running antitrust investigation into the search giant, according to three people familiar with the probe. Department lawyers have been seeking information and reinterviewing potential witnesses, the people said, speaking anonymously to discuss a pending investigation. The probe is focused on how Alphabet Inc.'s Google bundles its services, and could result in a new antitrust complaint, they said. The development shows the Justice Department is continuing to scrutinize some of Google's most popular products, even after filing two major antitrust suits against the company. Google's terms of service require developers to use its maps and search products together. The limit...
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