On October 7, the News/Media Alliance sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to request the agencies open an investigation into Google’s anticompetitive conduct regarding its site reputation abuse policy. The letter addresses Google’s adoption and implementation of policies aimed at tackling “spammy, low-quality content on Search,” which Google has wielded as a sword to de-rank, and in some instances delist entirely, legitimate publisher properties. Many affected publisher websites provide valuable editorial material, coupons and other promotional material to millions of American consumers, that provide American businesses an efficient way to attract new and retain existing customers through affiliate partnerships.
In its letter, NMA calls on US authorities to examine Google’s practices following the United Kingdom and the European Union’s recent successful efforts to limit Google’s unfair application of these policies. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority recently introduced conduct requirements on Google related to fair ranking, anti-discrimination, advance notice, and enhanced appeals frameworks for penalized publishers. Google, meanwhile, announced that manual actions issued under its Site Reputation Abuse Policy would not be applied within the European Economic Area following discussions with the European Commission. The Commission had previously initiated an investigation into Google’s application of the Site Reputation Abuse Policy. NMA urges similar regulatory focus in the US, so that US publishers are protected at the same level as European businesses. Read the full letter here.
