Canada: Antitrust probe ends well for Google

Google won a significant antitrust victory on Tuesday in Canada when the country’s Competition Bureau concluded that the company doesn’t use its dominant market position to harm rivals.

The Canadian investigation focused on six discrete aspects of Google’s business, including how it displays search results and how it treat its own services such as “Google Maps” and “Google Flights.” In a major win for the company, the regulator found Google’s search practices are dictated by user experience and are not intended to squelch rivals:

“Although Google frequently makes changes to the algorithm it uses to rank search results, evidence obtained over the course of the investigation indicates that Google’s changes are generally made to improve user experiences,” the Competition Bureau said in a statement.

The regulator did, however, describe the manner in which Google sells its flagship AdWords search ads as “problematic,” and ordered the company to change the terms of its contracts to make it easier for clients to end ad campaigns.

In a statement, Google’s general counsel, Kent Walker, declared the company was happy with the outcome.

Full Content: WallStreetJournal

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