MacMusic  |  PcMusic  |  440 Software  |  440 Forums  |  440TV  |  Zicos
google
Search

Ohio Files Lawsuit To Declare Google a Public Utility

Wednesday June 9, 2021. 01:20 AM , from Slashdot/Apple
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) on Tuesday filed a lawsuit asking the court to declare Google a public utility, which would subject the Silicon Valley giant to government regulation. Yost's complaint, filed in Delaware County Court, alleges Google has used its dominance as a search engine to prioritize its own products over 'organic search results' in a way that 'intentionally disadvantages competitors.' 'Google uses its dominance of internet search to steer Ohioans to Google's own products -- that's discriminatory and anti-competitive,' Yost said in a statement. 'When you own the railroad or the electric company or the cellphone tower, you have to treat everyone the same and give everybody access.' The complaint alleges that as a result of Google's 'self-preferencing Results-page architecture,' nearly two-thirds of Google searches in 2020 were completed without users leaving Google-owned platforms, meaning users either never left the search page, or clicked to another Google platform such as YouTube, Google Flights, Google Maps, Google News, Google Shopping or Google Travel. A Google spokesperson said Yost's lawsuit would 'make Google Search results worse and make it harder for small businesses to connect directly with customers.' They added: 'Ohioans simply don't want the government to run Google like a gas or electric company. This lawsuit has no basis in fact or law and we'll defend ourselves against it in court.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.
rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/oyXC8lviKdg/ohio-files-lawsuit-to-declare-google-a-public-u...
News copyright owned by their original publishers | Copyright © 2004 - 2024 Zicos / 440Network
Current Date
Mar, Fri 29 - 11:35 CET