Google: Legal

Gab.ai sues Google after removal from Play store for hate-speech violations

Google: Android, Google: Business Issues, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Mobile, SEO BLOG / Good To SEO

Described as a “digital safe space for the far right” or the “alt-right’s very own Twitter,” social site Gab.ai is suing Google parent Alphabet for alleged violations of antitrust law. The company filed its suit after its Android app was removed from Google Play. According to the company’s complaint, the Gab app was never allowed on […]

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Yelp says Google violated ‘do not crawl’ provision of 2013 FTC settlement agreement

Channel: Local, Google: Antitrust, Google: Business Issues, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Maps & Local, Google: SEO, Legal: Regulation, SEO BLOG, Yelp / Good To SEO

Mark Van Scyoc / Shutterstock.com Yelp has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asserting that Google is improperly using Yelp images in local search results in violation of its 2013 antitrust settlement with the regulatory agency. Yelp also circulated the letter to several members of Congress and state attorneys general, according to a

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Google to appeal $2.7 billion EU fine

Channel: SEO, Google: Antitrust, Google: Business Issues, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Outside US, Google: Web Search, SEO BLOG / Good To SEO

According to The Telegraph, Google is planning to file an appeal against the roughly $2.7 billion (€2.4 billion) antitrust fine imposed by the European Commission in June for abuse of market position in shopping search. The fine was the largest in EU history; the previous record fine was $1.3 billion against Intel. Last week, Intel won

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Google says it will offer antitrust remedy to EU to avoid further penalties

Channel: Retail, Google: Antitrust, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Outside US, SEO BLOG / Good To SEO

Google parent Alphabet is preparing to comply with EU regulators’ demand that it no longer “favor its own content” in shopping search results. Google must propose a solution that will offer “equal treatment” to Google’s shopping rivals by Tuesday at midnight. In June, Google received a long-anticipated antitrust fine of EUR 2.4 billion (now $2.9

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UK local SEO firm Movette shut down by regulators for deceptive sales practices

Channel: SEO, Google: Legal, Google: SEO, Legal, Legal: Regulation, SEO BLOG, SEO: Local / Good To SEO

Almost everyone, it seems, has received one: a call falsely claiming that your business listing on Google is about to expire. Many people also receive deceptive robocalls from marketing companies claiming to represent or be authorized by Google. One such UK-based company, Movette, was just shut down by regulators for using fraudulent tactics to sell

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Google fighting local battles over global control of its index in Canada, France

Channel: SEO, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Web Search, Legal, Legal: Censorship, Legal: Regulation, Right To Be Forgotten, SEO BLOG / Good To SEO

The internet, which is a global medium, presents all kinds of problems for different cultures and legal systems around the world. Google’s recent legal battles in Canada and France against “local” orders to remove content from its global index are immediate examples of this challenge. Whose rules should apply and where? Because of the fundamentally

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Top European court to decide if Google needs to purge disputed links from global index

Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: SEO, Google: Web Search, Legal: Censorship, Legal: Regulation, Right To Be Forgotten, SEO BLOG / Good To SEO

A top European court will now decide whether Google must remove “right to be forgotten” (RTBF) links from its global search index. The French data protection authority, Commission Nationale de l’informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), previously argued RTBF can be defeated when disputed content remains in Google’s global index. In 2015, CNIL demanded global delisting to enforce RTBF.

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What to make of the EU’s absurd antitrust ruling against Google

Channel: SEM, Google, Google: Antitrust, Google: Legal, Legal, Legal: Regulation, SEO BLOG / Good To SEO

Yes, absurd. That was the first word that came to mind when I read the European Commission’s antitrust ruling against Google and the $2.7 billion fine to go with it on Tuesday. A day or so later, I’d add ill-conceived and misguided to that list. The ruling was levied against Google for breaching EU antitrust rules

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How the EU fine will ruin Google Shopping for the consumer

Channel: SEM, Google, Google: Antitrust, Google: Google Shopping, Google: Legal, Google: Outside US, Legal, Legal: General, Paid Search Column, Search Marketing, Search Marketing: Shopping Search Marketing, SEO BLOG / Good To SEO

As a paid search and shopping platform, Google is our most important partner. This doesn’t mean that I would refrain from highlighting critical aspects of things Google is doing. I’ve written about their low-price bias numerous times and the advertising digital duopoly created by Google and Facebook that puts retailers in a tough spot. That being said,

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Canada’s Supreme Court orders Google to de-index site globally, opening door to censorship

Channel: SEO, Google: Critics, Google: Legal, Google: Outside US, Legal: Censorship, SEO BLOG / Good To SEO

The Canadian Supreme Court has ordered Google to de-index an e-commerce site globally. This sets a disastrous precedent that opens the door for other governments (and private parties) across the globe to try to control or censor Google’s search results. The case was Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions. The plaintiff, a small tech company in British Columbia,

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