Reuters has revealed 18 of the 19 official complainants forming the basis of the European Union's anti-trust case against Google. Yelp's public policy director Luther Lowe told Reuters that "It's been clear from our meetings that U.S.-based companies have helped lead the charge by providing substantive evidence of Google's harm to consumers." The Register has this handy list:
[More after the Break]
In related news, eBay CEO John Donahoe told the Financial Times that the company is a major competitor to Google in the online shopping space, potentially supporting Google's case that it is not dominant in that market. However, "one of the first complainants to the European Commission, Shivaun Raff, founder of price-comparison service Foundem, told El Reg that the FT may be overstating the case":"I suspect the FT has got the wrong end of the stick and misinterpreted a nuanced comment about the extent to which different kinds of services compete with each other," she said.
Less than two weeks ago, the search monster was slapped with a Statement of Objections (SO) by the EU Commission for abusing its dominant market position in search by directing users to its own Shopping service. Such a move is usually the first step on the road to punitive measures.
Google's argument is that is is not abusing dominance in the online shopping market because it is not dominant in that market – this is where Donahoe's comments will help Eric Schmidt sleep well at night.
However, complainants argue that merchant sites like eBay and Amazon are distinct from price-comparison sites such as Moneysupermarket.Com, Nextag and Twenga.
According to its own rules, the Commission's first step in a so-called Article 102 investigation is to assess whether the undertaking concerned is dominant or not. "Defining the relevant market is essential for assessing dominance, because a dominant position can only exist on a particular market. The relevant product market is made of all products/services which the consumer considers to be a substitute for each other due to their characteristics, their prices and their intended use," according to Commission rules.
Given that an SO has already been issued, it is likely that Vestager has already thought about this and come to the conclusion that Google is abusing dominance.
According to Raff, "Google is putting a brave face on it, but there is no question that this is the beginning of the end... Not even Google's formidable PR machine can put this genie back in the bottle."
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday April 28 2015, @02:12PM
A little context, Microsoft's involvement in the EU case has been known for years, these other companies were unknown.
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(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Tuesday April 28 2015, @02:28PM
I thought their previous involvement was in a different (similar) case.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday April 28 2015, @02:46PM
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-15/ok-google-how-did-the-eu-get-to-this-point-a-timeline [bloomberg.com]
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(Score: 2, Flamebait) by Nerdfest on Tuesday April 28 2015, @03:33PM
"deceptive conduct to lockout competition in the mobile market." And this case isn't against Apple?
(Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday April 28 2015, @07:33PM
"deceptive conduct to lockout competition in the mobile market." And this case isn't against Apple?
Wot?
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Informative) by Nerdfest on Tuesday April 28 2015, @07:34PM
Troll? Did you know that Apple is now blocking apps that mention Pebble support [androidpolice.com]? Get a life.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 28 2015, @10:15PM
Yeah, well, you dared to suggest bad things about Apple, inventer of the MP3 player, windowed desktop, home computer, discoverer of colors, designer of rounded corners, and of course, protector of all that is Good.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Tuesday April 28 2015, @11:08PM
.... protector of all that is Cool.
TFTFY
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Tuesday April 28 2015, @06:09PM
If Google crushes Microsoft. Bonus point! :P
The whole antitrust complaint smells rat anyway. They are just gaming the government courts.