Brussels — In a novel twist of events, online travel agency TripAdvisor has become the latest company to take aim at Google. Global search engine giant Google is under growing threat of being accused of anti-competitive and unfair behavior by the European Commission. The move follows a similar one by Expedia, which filed an antitrust complaint last week against the search giant.
The EU regulators initiated a probe into the world’s most popular search engine in November 2010 after rivals, including Microsoft , accused Google of manipulating search results and promoting its own services while demoting theirs.
TripAdvisor’s hotel and restaurants review site competes with Google Places, which provides reviews and listings of local businesses. The company today lodged its grievance against Google with the European Union, Bloomberg was first to report on the story.
“We continue to see them putting Google Places results higher in the search results–higher on the page than other natural search results,” said Adam Medros, TripAdvisor’s vice president for product, in February.
“What we are constantly vigilant about is that Google treats relevant content fairly.”
“TripAdvisor filed a complaint with the European Commission to address anti-competitive and unfair practices by Google that harm the marketplace and consumer welfare,” the Newton, Massachusetts-based company said today in a statement.
In a two-paragraph statement, TripAdvisor did not disclosed the specific nature of its complaint or of how it believed it was being harmed. The company further stated: “We hope that the commission takes prompt corrective action to ensure a healthy and competitive online environment that will foster innovation across the internet.”
The company’s allegations are supported by another UK travel site lastminute.com, whose chief executive Matthew Crummack released a statement saying Google posed a serious threat to consumers and the principles of fair competition.
In fact, the European Union’s competition czar Joaquin Almunia is well-versed with every issues related to Google. In January, he said that his office had been fielding several complaints against the search giant.
He further said that his investigators are due to submit their report after Easter, at which point he could decide to drop the investigation, extend it or issue Google with a statement of objections, a process that can lead to demands to change behavior and to sanctions like fines.
TripAdvisor has accused Google of anti-competitive and unfair behavior
Google said it was working closely with the Commission to explain how its business works.
“We have not seen this complaint yet, but we will continue to address any concerns with the Commission, knowing that there is always room for improvement,” Al Verney, Google’s spokesman, said in a statement.
Interestingly, TripAdvisor’s complaint rounds off the total number of cases before the EU watchdog to 14. Another online travel agency Expedia Inc. last week filed a complaint with the commission, which is investigating claims that Google discriminated against other services in its search results and stopped some websites from accepting rival ads.
As a matter of fact, the majority of complainants are linked with small competitors across Europe. Google has refuted that it stifles competition. US enforcers are also investigating Google, which controls more than two-thirds of the global search market.
In a separate investigations, EU privacy regulators are scrutinizing Google’s new privacy policy, which came into effect on March 1.