Canadian agency drops probe of Google's competitive practices
OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2016. The Competition Bureau of Canada said Tuesday that it's no longer investigating Google's competitive practices. The agency, akin to the Federal Trade Commission in the US, said Google had already taken steps to ease the agency's concerns. The story was first reported by Reuters and other news sources.
The agency had filed a legal motion in 2013, saying Google had been using its search dominance to unfair advantage in the markets for online search and search advertising, and gave "preferential treatment" to its own services such as Google Maps and Google Flights.
"Specifically, the Bureau examined allegations that Google engaged in several practices intended to raise its rivals' costs, inhibit their ability to expand and generally make it more difficult for them to compete," the regulator said in a statement. The agency found that Google did have anticompetitive clauses in the terms and conditions for AdWords, which businesses use to advertise on Google, but said the company removed those clauses and promised not to reintroduce them for five years.
While dropping its probe, the regulator said it will continue to follow "Google's ongoing conduct."
Google did not respond to a request for comment. The Competition Bureau did not have additional comments.
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