A new study claims that the way Google presents search results is harming consumers and competitors. It could bolster Europe s antitrust case against the search giant.
The study was sponsored by Yelp, which is one of the complainants in the European antitrust case. It was co-written by former Federal Trade Commission adviser and noted Internet academic Tim Wu (who s known to have coined the term net neutrality ) and was submitted Friday to EU regulators.
The study, which was also written by Michael Luca of Harvard Business School, found that users were 45 percent more likely to click on results that were ranked by relevance, as opposed to the way Google ranks them — with its own offerings listed at the top of search results. Google has claimed that its handling of search results is meant to serve the interests of users, with Google Chairman Eric Schmidt s recent saying that all Google is doing is trying to make search get better and better over time.
The Yelp data, based on responses from 2,690 users shown two different sets of search results, shows that Google is degrading its own search results by excluding its competitors at the expense of its users, according to the study.
Wu s role in the study is a bit surprising because he s a former Google fellow who has defended the company in the past.
I have great respect and admiration for Google as a company, and feel that 90 percent of what they do makes life easier or better, Wu said, according to Bloomberg. In this case, I am convinced that Yelp s data is showing a deviation from those principles, and I agreed to write the paper to make that point known to the world.
Google has yet to respond to our request for comment.
The European Commission brought antitrust charges against Google in April. The company recently got an extension for submitting its response to the charges; the new deadline is July 17, according to the Wall Street Journal. The antitrust charges could force Google to make big changes and result in billions of dollars in fines against the company.
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