Key Takeaways
- Yelp has filed a lawsuit against Google for antitrust violations.
- The landmark antitrust ruling against Google has opened up the search engine to new lawsuits.
- Yelp’s co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman called Google “the largest information gatekeeper in existence.”
In a landmark ruling earlier this month, Google was declared an illegal monopoly, opening the world’s biggest search engine to a myriad of new hurdles.
One of the most pressing is that it has finally given smaller companies the confidence to file lawsuits against it.
On Wednesday, Aug. 28, Yelp sued Google, claiming that Google’s dominance as an all-purpose search engine has given it an unfair advantage in local search services.
Yelp Files Lawsuit Against Google
Yelp, a leading online service that lets customers review and find local businesses, has long criticized the company.
The company is seeking monetary damages and an order for Google to stop unfair practices.
Despite publicly criticizing Google in the past, this is the first time the company has brought its issues to a federal court.
In a blog post , Yelp’s co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman called Google “the largest information gatekeeper in existence.”
The CEO said Google has continually put “its heavy thumb on the scale to stifle competition and keep consumers within its own walled garden.”
“Abandoning its stated mission to deliver the best information to users, Google has illegally abused its monopoly in general search to dominate the local search and local search advertising markets—engaging in anticompetitive conduct that has degraded the quality of search results and demoted rivals to grow its market power, he said.
Google Vows To Fight Back
US District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled against Google in its high-profile lawsuit with the government. However, earlier in the case, he narrowed the lawsuit by dismissing claims that Google had unfairly designed its search results to reduce the visibility of competitors like Yelp.
Google spokesperson Peter Schottenfels said that “similar claims were thrown out years ago by the FTC , and recently by the judge in the DOJ’s case.”
“On the other aspects of the decision to which Yelp refers, we are appealing. Google will vigorously defend against Yelp’s meritless claims,” Schottenfels said.
Why Are So Many Companies Criticizing Google?
Google has long been criticized by the rest of the industry for being a search monopoly due to its dominant position in the search engine market, which many companies argue stifles competition and harms both consumers and businesses.
Google’s overwhelming market share means that it controls a vast majority of online search traffic, giving it significant influence over which websites and services are prominently featured in search results.
In August, District Court Judge Mehta found that Google had violated US antitrust law by illegally stifling innovation.
In a 277-page ruling, Mehta said: “The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
Was this Article helpful?
Yes
No
