German news firms lodge complaints against Google - PPC Industry News

Representatives from Germany's associations for newspaper and magazine publishers, the VDZ and BDZV, have lodged formal complaints against Google in the German Federal Cartel Office, it has been learned.

Details on the exact nature of the complaint have not been released, according to an article in Deutsch Welle, but the associations have previously voiced claims against Google, saying that the search mogul profits unfairly from their generated content. Other officials have also called into question the fairness of Google News rankings and said that the articles displayed therein are not properly compensated for.

Responding to the allegations, Google has maintained its innocence. "The competition authority has informed us of complaints from Google rivals ... and we are naturally ready to explain our commercial policies and products and are sure they respect German and European legislation," German spokesman Kay Oberbeck said.

Google reputedly nets €1.2 billion for ads in Germany alone, but Oberbeck was clear to point out the company paid out €4.2 billion to publishers around the world in 2009.

Unfortunately for the Mountain View, California-based company, its German struggle doesn't end there, as two other firms - the shopping website Ciao and digital mapmaker Euro-Cities - have gripes with the global search giant. Ciao, who has in recent years become acquired by Microsoft - itself no stranger to trust allegations - currently uses Google's AdSense, but has reservations over its revenue generation. Euro-cities, meanwhile, said its business model has been steadily eroded by the free-to-use and -embed Google Maps.

Concerning the lawsuits, Deutsche Welle reports a Euro-Cities official as saying the cases will not be made public until 20 January.

Google has, in the past, bowed to a syndicate of Belgian newspapers, Copiepresse, after a similarly themed suit was launched.

Source: bigmouthmedia.com