Thursday, 3 April 2025
26.1 C
Singapore
29.2 C
Thailand
27 C
Indonesia
27.3 C
Philippines

Yelp takes Google to court over alleged antitrust violations

Yelp files an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging unfair local search practices that harm competition and degrade service quality.

Yelp, a long-standing critic of Google, has launched its own antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant. This move comes just weeks after a US federal judge declared Google an illegal monopolist in a separate case. Yelp’s lawsuit argues that Google has used its dominant position in local search services to unfairly favour its own offerings, which Yelp claims have harmed competition and degraded the quality of local search results.

Yelp challenges Google’s local search dominance

Yelp’s complaint centres on the claim that Google unfairly directs users to its own local search services from its main search engine results page. According to Yelp, this practice is a form of illegal tying. Google uses its control over general search to push its local search results, effectively shutting out rivals and preventing them from reaching a wider audience.

Yelp has requested the court to put a stop to these alleged anticompetitive practices and to award damages for the harm caused. The lawsuit has been filed in the Northern District of California, the same district where a jury recently found Google had engaged in monopolistic behaviour in a case involving its app store, brought forward by Epic Games.

This legal action by Yelp follows a recent victory for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in its antitrust case against Google. The DOJ’s case accused Google of using exclusionary practices to dominate the distribution of search services. Inspired by this outcome, Yelp’s CEO, Jeremy Stoppelman, told The New York Times that โ€œthe winds on antitrust have shifted dramatically.โ€ He explained that Yelp had previously hesitated to sue due to the substantial resources required and the belief that the government should enforce antitrust laws.

Google dismisses Yelp’s claims

Google has dismissed Yelp’s allegations, with a spokesperson stating that these claims are not new. โ€œSimilar claims were thrown out years ago by the FTC and more recently by the judge in the DOJโ€™s case,โ€ said Peter Schottenfels, a Google spokesperson. โ€œOn the other aspects of the decision to which Yelp refers, we are appealing. Google will vigorously defend against Yelpโ€™s meritless claims.โ€

US District Court Judge Amit Mehta, who presided over the DOJ’s case against Google, did indeed narrow the scope of that lawsuit. He dismissed some claims made by state attorneys general, which included allegations that Google had unfairly altered its search results to disadvantage specialised search engines like Yelp and TripAdvisor.

Impact on consumers and advertisers

Yelp argues that consumers are the real victims of Googleโ€™s alleged anticompetitive conduct. In a blog post, Stoppelman stated that by restricting user access to alternative local search services, Google reduces competition, which in turn discourages investment in higher-quality content. According to Yelp, this leads to users receiving less relevant search results that may nonetheless generate revenue for Google.

The company also claims that Google’s behaviour harms advertisers. By limiting competition in local search, more local advertisers are forced to use Google, which enables the tech giant to charge higher fees with little pushback. Stoppelman pointed out that Google has seen a 20% or more increase in search advertising revenue year-over-year for most of the last decade while continuing to grow its market share.

Yelp has long voiced its concerns about Google’s dominance. In 2020, a senior Yelp executive testified before the US Senate regarding the companyโ€™s antitrust grievances. Yelp has also filed a complaint with the European Union over Googleโ€™s alleged self-preferencing and has publicly supported government agencies pursuing antitrust charges against Google.

Hot this week

The Tesla Model Y now comes in a 110kW version that qualifies for Cat A COE

Tesla launches the Model Y 110 in Singapore, a budget-friendly EV with Cat A COE. Discover its features, price, and availability.

China-aligned hacker group FamousSparrow resurfaces in cyberattacks

ESET finds China-linked hacker group FamousSparrow still active with upgraded tools, targeting institutions in the US, Mexico and Honduras.

RedCurl group linked to new ransomware strain in first documented attack

Bitdefender uncovers RedCurl's first ransomware campaign, revealing QWCrypt's unique tactics and the group's evolving cyber threat model.

Evento Seguro simplifies insurance access for event organisers in Brazil

Evento Seguro by Chubb makes event insurance easier for Brazilian organisers through a digital platform by Sympla and discovermarket.

Chinese investor questions commercial future of humanoid robots

Chinese venture capitalist Allen Zhu questions the commercial potential of humanoid robots, sparking debate amid rising AI investment in China.

Qualcomm expands AI research with MovianAI acquisition

Qualcomm has acquired Vietnamese AI research firm MovianAI to boost its AI development in smartphones, PCs, and software-defined vehicles.

Roblox introduces new parental controls to enhance child safety

Roblox introduces new parental controls, allowing parents to block games, restrict friends, and monitor their childโ€™s activity for better safety.

Anthropic introduces Claude for Education, a new AI chatbot plan for universities

Anthropic launches Claude for Education, an AI chatbot plan for universities that offers advanced learning tools and administration support.

Exabeam introduces Nova, an agentic AI that boosts cybersecurity operations

Exabeam unveils Nova, a proactive AI agent that boosts security team productivity and reduces incident investigation time by over 50%.

Related Articles