The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered another probe into Google over alleged abuse of dominant position, this time into its news showcase based on complaints from the digital news websites of legacy publications. The Digital News Publishers Association, with members such as India Today, Indian Express, Times Internet, Jagran New Media, ABP, Malayala Manorama and others, filed a complaint against Google with the CCI.
The news publishers alleged that a majority of traffic to news websites comes from search engines and Google is the dominant one, and that search engines end up leveraging the revenue earned by the content produced by publishers much more than the publishers themselves.
They also alleged that Google is a major stakeholder in the digital advertising space, and it “unilaterally decides the amount to be paid to the publishers for the content created by them, as well as the terms on which the aforesaid amounts have to be paid”. It alleged that website publishers only receive 51% of the money spent by advertisers.
“In a well-functioning democracy, the critical role played by news media cannot be undermined, and it needs to be ensured that digital gatekeeper firms do not abuse their dominant position to harm the competitive process of determining a fair distribution of revenue amongst all stakeholders. Therefore, the alleged conduct of Google appears to be an imposition of unfair conditions and price which, prima facie, is a violation of Section 4(2)(a) of the Act,” the order read.
The publishers alleged that Google holds a dominant position in web search, over 50% of traffic is routed through Google, and the search engine, in turn, determines which websites get discovered. It adds that Google is also a major stakeholder in digital advertising, and “unilaterally decides the amount to be paid to the publishers for the content created by them, as well as the terms on which the aforesaid amounts have to be paid.”
The news organisations alleged that because of “unilateral, arbitrary and unfair decisions” of Google, they have to suffer a loss of ad revenue as well as a fair share in the value chain or news dissemination.
"No doubt, Google, being the gateway, generates substantial traffic for news publishers, but at the same time, the bargaining power imbalance and denial of fair share in the advertising revenue, as alleged by the Informant, merit detailed investigation," the CCI said.
It added that as per available information, there is an alleged bargaining power imbalance enjoyed by Google.
“The case also brings forth the issue of alleged lack of transparency and information asymmetry in the ad tech services provided by Google, which does not allow publishers to optimise the yield on their ad inventory,” it added.
It said that Google has unilaterally decided not to pay the publishers of news for the snippets used by them in search engine results. It added that snippets can answer queries many times, leading to the ad revenue of news sites being limited whereas Google would continue to earn ad revenue on its results page as well as enrich its search algorithm.
As per the regulator, it needs to be examined if Google imposes any discriminatory condition or price on various news publishers.
“It needs to be examined whether the use of snippets by Google is a result of bargaining power imbalance between Google on the one hand and news publishers on the other, and whether it affects the referral traffic to news publisher websites, and thus, their monetisation abilities,” the regulator said.
The CCI directed the Director General to investigate the matter and submit a report within 60 days. It added that nothing that was mentioned is tantamount to a final opinion in the case.