By Tracey Cooper for The
Register.
This story has been reproduced with permission.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has
taken action against Google Inc, Google Ireland Limited, and Google
Australia Pty Ltd in the Federal Court, Sydney, saying Google has
breached the Trade Practices Act by failing to adequately
distinguish between sponsored links on its website and "organic"
search results.
The watchdog said that, in 2005, sponsored links for Newcastle
car dealerships Kloster Ford and Charlestown Toyota would also
direct users to the site of classified ad magazine Trading
Post, a rival in the business.
The ACCC has also taken action against Trading
Post.
An ACCC statement says it is seeking declarations from both
Google and Trading Post that they breached the Trade
Practices Act, as well as an injunction "restraining Google from
publishing search results that do not expressly distinguish
advertisements from organic search results".
Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reports that Google
Australia said it would fight the claims.
"Google Australia believes that these claims are without merit
and we will defend against them vigorously," spokesman Rob Shilkin
told SMH. "They represent an attack on all search
engines and the Australian businesses, large and small, who use
them to connect with customers throughout the world."
The ACCC's statement says while Google has faced action in other
countries over trademark issues, it is "the first regulatory body
to seek legal clarification of Google's conduct from a trade
practices perspective".
© The Register
2007
