Kelkoo contacts US antitrust authorities over Google

Kelkoo believes that not enough is being done in Europe to tackle Google's unfair promotional practices

British ecommerce search engine Kelkoo has contacted antitrust regulators in the US over Google's increasing market dominance.

According to Reuters, the price comparison site made the move because it believes that European rules to ensure fair competition aren't as effective as they should be.

Kelkoo and many other technology companies have accused the internet search giant of unfair practices over the way in which it promotes its products and services.

In March, the firm became the fourth biggest net contributor to the EU budget having been slapped with nearly €9 billion in fines over the past two years.

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That includes the €1.49bn fine it received from the EU for anti-competitive conduct through AdSense.

An investigation concluded that Google had abused its market dominance for a decade after it prevented other companies from competing in the online search advertising intermediation sector.

"The Commission found that Google's conduct harmed competition and consumers, and stifled innovation," said the commission in March.

"Google's rivals were unable to grow and offer alternative online search advertising intermediation services to those of Google.

But despite the fact that Google has faced heavy fines from European lawmakers, Kelkoo has suggested that more needs to be done.

In an interview with Reuters, Kelkoo CEO Richard Stables said his company is unable to compete on "equal terms" due to the way Google lists its product listing ads (PLA) compared to comparison listing ads (CLA).

He said: "She (Vestager) has got the remedy wrong. Google's current compliance mechanism is failing the shopping market. Google is restricting visibility to users in order to continue benefiting from its PLA abuse."

Stables confirmed that Kelkoo has had conversations with US antitrust regulators in a bid to tackle this problem. He added: "We spoke to the Federal Trade Commission four months ago. We are prepared to go to the Department of Justice."

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