FairSearch added new members in the U.S. and Europe, the...
FairSearch added new members in the U.S. and Europe, the anti-Google business coalition said Wednesday. The addition of Poland’s Allegro Group, with auction and e-commerce operations in 15 countries, Finland’s Nokia and California’s Oracle “is emblematic of the global scope…
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of Google’s anti-competitive search and business practices, which harm consumers by curbing innovation and choice, not just in Web services, but also in mobile, and any platform where Google abuses its dominant position,” said Thomas Vinje, counsel to FairSearch on EU matters (http://xrl.us/bnqhb7). Any remedy to Google’s behavior “must be applied globally, be legally binding, and come with strong mechanisms for ongoing monitoring and enforcement to prevent the search giant from restoring its abusive practices,” he said. The coalition also released an open letter to U.S. and EU regulators as ads in Politico and the Washington Post Wednesday, telling the European Commission and U.S. FTC (http://xrl.us/bnqhcm): “Simply requiring Google to accurately label its products, paid search results and advertisements will not undo the harm to competition that Google already has inflicted.” The company “controls” nearly 80 percent of searches in the U.S. and more than 90 percent in Europe and “has the unique ability to manipulate the marketplace and illegally thwart competition,” the letter said. Regulators must consider a “placement” remedy that stops Google from “preferencing its own services or demoting the rankings of competitive sites,” the letter said. FairSearch last week held an event where Google’s search-ranking and Android mobile device operating system practices were criticized (CD Sept 18 p11). The company had responded that its practices benefit consumers, and a representative had no immediate comment Wednesday.