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“There is a fundamental conflict between being a search provider and a content provider,” Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project Director John Simpson told The Inquirer. “As Google has increased its content and services, it has unfairly favoured them in its search results and damaged competitors. It makes absolutely no sense to approve this deal.”
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Yet groups such as Consumer Watchdog have called on government regulators to block the sale. The Fairsearch.org consortium of competitors to Google—which includes Microsoft—issued a statement that “encourages government officials to look closely” at how Google uses the acquisition.
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Internet services giant Google has announced plans to acquire travel brand Frommer for an undisclosed amount in a deal that has already come under fire from Consumer Watchdog.
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Google’s latest attempt to add more content to its local business listings by buying travel brand Frommer has been challenged by the Consumer Watchdog.
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Longtime Google critic Consumer Watchdog, an organization based in Santa Monica, said it would call on federal antitrust authorities to block the purchase. “There is a fundamental conflict between being a search provider and a content provider,” Consumer Watchdog spokesman John Simpson said in an emailed statement.
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“There is a fundamental conflict between being a search provider and a content provider,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project Director.
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Google has snapped up travel guidebook brand Frommer’s, a deal which has been attacked by a consumer group over potential antitrust implications.
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With its recent purchase of Zagat and today’s announcement that it is acquiring travel guide company Frommer’s, there can be little doubt that Google is getting deeper into the content business. This move makes a lot of sense for Google, which is trying to add more content to its local reviews business and Knowledge Graph, but it could also put the company under additional scrutiny from antitrust investigators in the U.S. and elsewhere. Already, the consumer advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog is calling upon government regulators to block the acquisition.
Press Release
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called on federal antitrust regulators to block Google’s purchase of Frommer’s travel guides. “There is a fundamental conflict between being a search provider and a content provider,” said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project Director. “As Google has increased its content and services, it has unfairly favored them in its search results and damaged competitors.”
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Critics of the ITA deal said Monday that the Frommer’s purchase raises similar issues. “This is further down the road of having content that will keep you on the site longer,” said John Simpson, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, who said regulators should block the deal. “There are serious potential antitrust questions around how the search function is used with a site that now is offering its own unique content.”
