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Google Facing Fine of Up To $1.4 Billion In India Over Rigged Search Results
An anonymous reader writes: The Competition Commission of India has opened an investigation into Google to decide whether the company unfairly prioritized search results to its own services. Google could face a fine of up to $1.4 billion — 10% of its net income in 2014. A number of other internet companies, including Facebook and FlipKart, responded to queries from the CCI by confirming that Google does this. "The CCI's report accuses Google of displaying its own content and services more prominently in search results than other sources that have higher hit rates. It also states that sponsored links shown in search results are dependent on the amount of advertising funds Google receives from its clients. Ecommerce portal Flipkart noted that it found search results to have a direct correlation with the amount of money it spent on advertising with Google." The company has faced similar antitrust concerns in the EU and the U.S
So a free search engine returned results in an order I don't like. Oh the humanity!
Whether it is "free" or not is irrelevant. In many countries, it is illegal for a company to unfairly exploit its dominance in one market to gain advantage in another market.