U.S. state of Ohio sues to have Google declared a open public utility
The state of Ohio on Tuesday filed an unprecedented lawsuit contacting a local court to declare Google as many a public utility as a power company.
Google ought to be designated a community utility subject to authorities regulation regarding its internet search engine and other providers, Ohio attorney standard Dave Yost contended in the legal filing.
Public utilities supply necessary goods or services such as normal water or power, and so are often effectively monopolies.
"When you possess the railroad or perhaps the electric company or perhaps the cellphone tower, you should treat everyone the same and present every person access," Yost said found in a launch announcing the suit.
Yost accused Google of favoring its products, websites, and offerings browsing results, putting competitors at a disadvantage.
Google said the lawsuit had no basis actually and that it will defend itself in courtroom.
"AG Yost's lawsuit would get Google Serp's worse and make it harder for smaller businesses to connect directly with clients," a firm spokesman said in reply to an AFP inquiry. "Ohioans basically don't want the government to work Google just like a gas or electric firm."
Ohio late this past year was first among some 3 dozen claims that filed a good federal lawsuit accusing Google of abusing its industry dominance. That case is still pending.
France's competition regulator fined Google 220 million euros ($267 million) on Mon for favoring its own services for positioning online ads in the trouble of rivals, due to U.S. tech giants encounter growing pressure in Europe and america.
The penalty is part of funds reached after three media groups -- Media Corp, French daily Le Figaro and Belgium's Groupe Rossel -- accused Google in 2019 of abusing a dominant market position over ad sales because of their websites and apps.
Your competition authority determined that Google gave preferential treatment to its ad inventory market AdX and the Doubleclick Ad Exchange, its real-time platform for letting clients choose and sell ads.
Google didn't contest the findings, and the regulator said the business has focused on operational adjustments, including improved interoperability with third-party ad placement suppliers.
The other day, Germany's competition regulator reported it had been expanding an antitrust investigation into Google and its own parent company Alphabet to add Google News Showcase, something aimed at increasing earnings for media publishers.
Source: japantoday.com
