Yelp, Consumer Watchdog Lose Google Intervention Bid

Yelp, Consumer Watchdog Lose Google Intervention Bid
Highlights
  • Yelp and lobby group Consumer Watchdog lost their joint bid
  • They wanted to intervene in Google's challenge of an EU antitrust fine
  • A court said they had no direct interest in the case
Advertisement

Search company Yelp and lobby group Consumer Watchdog lost their joint bid to intervene in Google's challenge of an EUR 2.4 billion ($2.7 billion or roughly Rs. 18,900 crores) EU antitrust fine after a court said they had no direct interest in the case.

The Luxembourg-based General Court also rejected applications from other Google rivals, according to a ruling on its website.

The European Commission penalised Google, the world's most popular internet search engine, last year for favouring its own comparison shopping service.

The case was triggered by British price comparison shopping site Foundem, while other European and US rivals also filed complaints.

US-based Yelp and Consumer Watchdog had jointly sought to join the court proceedings so their rights and interests would be covered by the final ruling in the case.

The General Court, however, backed Google's argument against Yelp's intervention, saying that while it took part as an interested third party in the EU investigation, it runs a different business from Google.

"As Yelp does not operate a search service that specialises in comparison shopping results, it cannot be directly affected by the ruling regarding the contested act and thus does not satisfy the criterion laid down in the case-law," judges said.

Yelp said the fight against Google was far from over.

"It is unfortunate that US consumer voices from this organisation will not be included in this particular phase of the comparison shopping case," Yelp public policy senior vice president Luther Lowe said.

"But we are ultimately heartened by reports that the Commission has opened an investigation into Google's anti-consumer behaviour as it relates to local search."

The court also dismissed lobbying group FairSearch's bid to intervene in the shopping case. Judges said FairSearch had failed to prove it is a representative body.

They also rejected intervention bids from Prestige Gifting, Connexity, Pricegrabber.com and lobbying group ICOMP.

This is one of two Google challenges against EU antitrust rulings, with the other related to Android.

© Thomson Reuters 2018

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Yelp, Consumer Watchdog, Google, EU
Oppo F9, Oppo F9 Pro, Oppo A83 (2018) Price in India Cut by Up to Rs. 2,000
Eros Now Expands Into Short-Form Originals With Eros Now Quickie
Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat LinkedIn Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News

Advertisement

Follow Us
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »