We don’t doubt you’ve already heard of the latest big-business scandal occurring on the online marketplace in regards to Google’s unfair treatment to other business and illegal advantages to it’s own comparison shopping service… But what does this all mean?
Google has reportedly prioritised it’s own comparison shopping services above it’s competitors and has even gone as far as to demote them in search results. This is somewhat of an injustice to both businesses and consumers, as it has denied other companies the ability to fairly compete in the market and limited the consumer’s choice. After years of investigation, the European Union has now set a €2.4 billion fine against Google, and given the business a 90 day period to remedy the issue before daily fines are also enforced.
But what does this mean for businesses?
Having been put under investigation and caught out, Google will be forced to either fix their search algorithms or face a large daily fine. This is great news for SME’s and international businesses alike, as it reintroduces a fair playing field onto the online marketplace.
Google has since released articles explaining “the other side of the story”, defending their case and have also revealed their plans on making an appeal against the European Commission.