Investigators in India have accused Google of abusing its internet search dominance. The investigators claim that the move stifles the search giant's competition in the country, appearing like the search engine is monopolizing the internet browsing business. The probe regarding Google's alleged abuse of its dominance has been under investigation for three years now.
The Indian investigators working on the allegations have indicated that the search giant has been highlighting its own services and content unfairly, at the expense of rival search engines. According to The Guardian, the inquiry is centered on complaints filed by Google's rivals and has been submitted to the Indian competition commission and to Google itself.
The San Francisco-based company has also been accused of manipulating search results and rankings. Google has denied the allegations against it and is confident that it will be cleared of the complaints. The search major has been accused of similar allegations of illegal self-promotion in other parts of the world, particularly in Europe and the U.S.
Google has similarly denied the previous allegations. The company is still under investigation in Europe. Investigators are looking into whether the search engine has skewed search settings to stir traffic away from its competition. If found to be guilty, Google will face a multimillion Euro fine. For the case in India, Google will have until Sept 10, Thursday next week, to respond to the findings. The U.S. company has not issued a response as of yet.
Google has been under fire for taking advantage of its dominance over the internet. Just a few days ago, the European competition commissioner has been reported to chide Google for displaying shopping links amongst search results. The display lets users compare prices inevitably upon hitting on a search for a product they wish to buy. Google has also denied the allegation.
The search company has been given ten weeks to respond. As of last Thursday, the response has already been received and is under evaluation according to BBC.
