Does this headline sound familiar? It should, because it’s exactly the same as the one I used in an article a few days ago, except for the first word. Last time, it was Expedia filing a complaint. Now, it’s TripAdvisor.
Of course Expedia and TripAdvisor have plenty in common. As a matter of fact, until about a year ago, the two operated as one company, until Expedia announced they were separating.
Both companies are members of FairSearch.org, a group of Google competitors, who aim to stop Google in the areas the group deem anti-competitive. In an email this week, a spokesperson for FairSearch told WebProNews, “FairSearch advocates for enforcement of existing antitrust and consumer protection laws, not new regulation, a position the coalition has consistently expressed since its creation in October 2010.”
As far as the complaint goes, according to Bloomberg, it’s basically the same as the Expedia one: “anti-competitive and unfair practices by Google that harm the marketplace and consumer welfare”.
This all follows a letter recently sent by the European Consumers’ Organisation to Joaquin Almunia, who is leading an EU antitrust investigation of Google. The letter expressed similar sentiments to those expressed in the complaints from TripAdvisor and Expedia.
Almunia will reportedly not make a decision on how to proceed until after Easter.