Yelp has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. CNN ReportsThe move marks an end to years of animosity between Yelp and the two companies. Assert Google is using its control over online search to dominate local search and prioritize its own reviews.
“Google is abusing its monopoly power in general search to keep users within its proprietary ecosystem and discourage them from going to rival sites,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and CEO of Yelp. Blog Post “This anticompetitive conduct siphons traffic and advertising revenue from vertical search services like Yelp, which provide objectively higher quality local business content to consumers,” the lawsuit said.
The U.S. case could have further ramifications after a judge in a Justice Department case deemed Google a search monopoly. Although the August ruling did not impose any sanctions on Google, the Yelp suit is likely to be the first of many brought by the tech company’s competitors.
In response to a request for comment, a Google spokesperson told Engadget:
“Yelp’s allegations are not new. Similar allegations were made several years ago. FTCand more recently judge We will appeal the Department of Justice’s action. We will appeal the other aspects of the decision that Yelp addresses. Google will vigorously defend itself against Yelp’s baseless claims.”
While the lawsuit has focused on the United States, Yelp has also criticized Google’s practices abroad. The European Digital Markets Act was intended to loosen Google’s grip on search results by creating rules to prevent big tech companies from favoring their own services. But Yelp Claimed Google’s attempts to comply with the DMA have actually made users less likely to leave the Google ecosystem.
In a statement about the lawsuit, Yelp general counsel Aaron Schur said:
“Yelp’s antitrust lawsuit against Google alleges that Google has abused its unlawful monopoly in general search to engage in anti-competitive behavior, favoring its own inferior local products, and monopolizing the local search and local search advertising markets. For years, Google has used its monopoly in general search to increase its own profits at the expense of what’s best for consumers, innovation, and fair competition. By engaging in deliberate exclusionary and anti-competitive behavior, Google has increased its market power by stealing traffic and revenue from competitors, making it harder for them to scale, increasing their costs, and reducing consumer choice.
“Judge Amit Mehta’s recent decision in the government’s antitrust lawsuit against Google, finding that Google has unlawfully maintained a monopoly in general search, marks an important turning point in antitrust law and provides a strong basis for Yelp’s lawsuit against Google. In addition to an injunction, Yelp seeks relief to prevent Google from self-preferencing in local search. The harm caused by Google’s self-preferencing is not unique to Yelp, and we look forward to telling our story in court.”
Update, August 28th, 8:15pm ET: This story has been updated since publication to include comment from a Google spokesperson and additional comment from Yelp’s general counsel.
