US: Watchdog pans Google Shopping monopoly as holiday spending kicks off

A report released this week by Consumer Watchdog is calling Google out for an “abuse of its monopoly position” with Google Shopping ahead of the holiday spending spree.

The report claims users spend up to 67 percent more when finding products to purchase through Google Shopping compared with a rival Comparison Shopping Engine. Eight out of 14 products, the findings say, push higher prices on buyers than if those products were found through a different search engine.

According to Consumer Watchdog, it’s Google’s dominant position in the industry that allows the search engine to up revenue and push higher costs on buyers. The report was released just as the holiday shopping season gets into full swing.

Google initially launched Google Product Search, which provided product search results without charging merchants to appear in those results, thus allowing the company to product lowest-price items. But in 2012 the company launched Google Shopping, a paid-only model where merchants pay to have products listed in the results.

Full Content: Business Insider

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