Google Faces Antitrust Investigations In Brazil
Ryan Martin / 11 years ago
Google is not exactly unfamiliar with legal action of an antitrust nature as it has faced antitrust lawsuits across a variety of locations in recent times, most notably in the European Union and the USA. Reuters report that Google is now facing more antitrust allegations though this time not it is in Europe but in Brazil. Brazilian antitrust watchdog Cade announced that it was assessing accusations that Google has used rival content unfairly, discouraged advertisers and favoured its own product listings in search results.
Google responded stating it was willing to cooperate with the Brazilian regulators. Microsoft is the company that filed the complaint in Brazil about Google obstructing advertising campaigns across multiple search engines to give an advantage to AdWords – which makes up 95% of Google’s advertising revenue. Brazilian shopping comparison sites Buscapé and Bondfardo accused Google of reproducing product reviews made by users of their sites, not Google.
Given the heightened suspicion with American technology companies in Brazil right now, after the NSA revelations, we should expect Brazilian authorities to come down hard on Google should they be found guilty of violating antitrust laws.
Image courtesy of SiliconAngle.com
