Because the editor of the Daily Mail sued Google
The case, brought to the attention of the antitrust, is based on the assumption that Alphabet uses search rankings in a way that penalizes publishers. The Wall Street Journal article
On Tuesday, the owner of the Daily Mail filed an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc.'s Google, accusing the tech giant of manipulating search results and banner ad sales, acting in ways that hurt online publishers.
The lawsuit, conducted in federal court in Manhattan, claims that Google punishes publishers on search rankings if they don't sell enough ad space through the company's proprietary Mountain View marketplace.
The Daily Mail's concerns stem in part from its assessment that news coverage regarding the UK royal family in 2021 was penalized in Google's search results, a spokesperson for the publisher said.
In a statement released by a spokesperson, Google denied the allegations. “The Daily Mail's claims are completely inaccurate. The use of our advertising technology tools has no impact on a publisher's website ranking in Google Search. More generally, we compete in a crowded and competitive ad tech space where publishers have and exercise multiple options, ”the statement states.
Publishing executives have long complained about Google's dominance of search and advertising management, but few make their complaints public. In January, the parent company of West Virginia's Charleston Gazette Mail filed antitrust lawsuits against Google and Facebook Inc. On Monday, other publishers filed lawsuits against these two tech companies, citing in support of an existing agreement called "Jedi Blue."
In parallel, Google faces antitrust lawsuits brought by the US Department of Justice and attorneys general in several states. The company denied abusing its market power and said the ad technology market is highly competitive.
The UK-based Daily Mail, known for current affairs and popculture news, operates one of the most widely read websites in the world, with 75 million unique monthly visitors to the United States, according to the lawsuit filed, seeking damages of unspecified entity. Google is also required to stop its alleged misconduct and to offer transparency with respect to its news search algorithm.
The complicated relationship of publishers with Google continues. The tech company's search engine is a major source of web tracking for many sites, and most companies in the industry use Google's proprietary software to sell advertising space. But Google at the same time competes with publishers also for the revenues deriving from online advertising and provides its tools to companies that intend to buy advertisements on its spaces.
According to research firm eMarketer, the Mountain View company held nearly 29% of the U.S. digital ad market in 2020.
In the lawsuit filed by the owner of the Daily Mail and its US unit, Mail Media Inc., the publisher also claims that Google used an algorithm to link its search engine and ad selling platform to put pressure on publishers. abusing its market power.
Google later tweaked its technology to smooth the action of this algorithm and restore the Daily Mail's normal search results, according to when filed in the lawsuit. But, more recently, what helped to set off an alarm bell in the management of the newspaper was the penalty that the Google algorithm would have implemented against searches for events concerning the royal family (among the most important horses of the Daily Mail 's battle), particularly towards search results for keywords like “Meghan and Harry”, and “Prince Philip,” according to the publisher's spokesperson.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/perche-editore-del-daily-mail-ha-fatto-causa-a-google/ on Sun, 25 Apr 2021 05:57:20 +0000.