Google won a case against a publisher who contended that Google cost him money due to them basically being a monopoly. The publisher ranked number one on Bing and Yahoo for neighborhoods in San Francisco but was not in a top postition on Google. Now this is something that we have seen many times where someone feels Google is dominating search, they have used carousel ads or a shopping display, etc… The thing about it is Google is a private enterprise not a public service, they have become such a vital everyday tool for so many that they feel like a public service. The flipside that monopoly power can cause quite a backlash, that backlash is taking place in Europe against Google where they control 90% of the market in many areas.<\/p>\n
Search Engine Land covered the case:<\/strong><\/p>\n Europe and the U.S. continue to drift further apart on Google. Even as European parliamentarians and regulators seek ways<\/a> to restrain Google\u2019s discretion over search results, U.S. courts continue to affirm Google\u2019s right to do whatever it wants with search results \u2014 paid and organic.<\/p>\n A California state court in San Francisco recently granted Google\u2019s case-ending motion in lawsuit against the company (per<\/a> GigaOm). The action, filed in June of this year in San Francisco Superior Court, was called S. Louis Martin vs. Google Inc<\/a>.<\/p>\n Drafted and filed by the non-attorney publisher of San Francisco Bay Area Tourism website CoastNews.com<\/a>, the complaint alleged unfair and deceptive business practices against Google.<\/p>\n The basic factual allegations included the claim that CoastNews ranked at the top of search results on Bing and Yahoo for San Francisco neighborhood keywords but didn\u2019t rank in a comparable position on Google. Plaintiff Martin asserted that Google\u2019s unfair and monopolistic business practices cause him lost revenue and future growth and harmed consumers, as well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n