Google Faces Texas Antitrust Probe Over Search

Google has revealed that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is conducting an antitrust probe, following complaints that it stifles websites that compete with its search engine.

Search Engine Land broke the news and Google Deputy General Counsel Don Harrison confirmed the investigation in a blog post.

Abbott’s office declined to discuss the case per its policy.

The cases cover those brought by shopping comparison Websites Foundem and myTriggers, and search directory SourceTools, all three of whom have ties to Microsoft.

Search Domination

Rankings, or where websites are placed in Google’s search results pages, can make or break companies that live online because Google commands roughly 65 percent of the search market.

The companies in the cases Abbott is looking at are looking to utilise the position that Google’s power as the world’s leading service provider put it in a position to harm smaller businesses.

Foundem, whose case came to the fore thanks to an investigation by the European Commission and the company’s support from Microsoft, said in February Google unfairly lowers its rankings to boost its own Google Product search service.

MyTriggers and SourceTools have said Google denigrates their ad placement on its search engine, causing the companies to lose money. Both companies hired Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, which has done antitrust work for Microsoft.

Google Algorithms

Harrison reiterated the company line that some websites have higher rankings than others because Google’s algorithms are geared to find the most relevant results for users based on a number of signals.

“Given that not every website can be at the top of the results, or even appear on the first page of our results, it’s unsurprising that some less relevant, lower quality websites will be unhappy with their ranking,” Harrison said.

He suggested that Foundem’s website has a poor ranking because it is poor quality, noting that Amazon, Expedia an Shopping.com tend to rank high in Google’s search results because they offer quality services.

No Discrimination

“The reality is that we don’t discriminate against competitors,” said Harrison, adding that Google is working with the Texas Attorney General’s office to address its concerns.

Google may not have a lot of work to do. Court judges and search engine experts such as Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan tend to take a dim view of such suits.