Google Sued to Be Declared a Public Utility Company by Ohio

Ohio requested a courtroom on Tuesday to declare Alphabet’s Google a public utility, a step the state’s Republican lawyer basic stated would forbid the search and promoting large from giving preferential remedy to its personal merchandise.

“When you own the railroad or the electric company or the cellphone tower, you have to treat everyone the same and give everybody access,” Attorney General Dave Yost stated in a press release.

The lawsuit, which estimates that Google is used for practically 90 p.c of Internet searches and has 95 p.c of the search share on cellular units, accuses Google of responding to sure search requests in a means that prioritises Google’s merchandise even when different responses would give higher solutions.

“Google uses its dominance of Internet search to steer Ohioans to Google’s own products – that’s discriminatory and anti-competitive,” Yost stated.

A Google spokesperson stated the corporate would defend itself in courtroom.

“Google Search is designed to provide people with the most relevant and helpful results. … Ohioans simply don’t want the government to run Google like a gas or electric company. This lawsuit has no basis in fact or law,” the spokesperson’s assertion stated.

The lawsuit seeks no financial damages however asks the courtroom to require Google to chorus from prioritising its personal merchandise. It alleges that almost two-thirds of Google searches in 2020 had been completed with out leaving Google’s platform.

“It often features Google products and services in attractive formats at the top of the Results page above organic search results. Additionally, Google often presents Google products in enhanced ways in the search results that are designed to capture more clicks,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit was filed within the frequent pleas courtroom, Delaware County, in Ohio. It is one in every of a number of filed by the federal authorities and state attorneys basic in opposition to large tech platforms Google and Facebook.

© Thomson Reuters 2021