|
Bharat
Matrimony Files Complaint Against Google In
Competition Commission Of India
Medianama. February 08, 2012 |
Consim Info, the company that
runs matrimonial website
BharatMatrimony, has filed a complaint against Google with
the Competition Commission of India, alleging discriminatory
trade practices related to AdWords reports
The Economic Times. The report cites a senior CCI official,
to inform that the case has been registered under section 3 & 4
of Competition Act 2002, and will be investigated separately
from existing complaints against Google.
The report suggests that Bharat
Matrimony has complained that Google sold keywords related to its
website to rivals like Shaadi.com and Jeevansaathi.com. Murugavel
Janakiraman, CEO of Consim Info confirmed that a complaint had
been filed, but refused to comment on the exact nature of the
complaint. We’ve requested the company for a copy of the
complaint, and will update in case we have more information.
This is not the first time that
Consim Info has taken an offensive against Google – the company
had earlier
taken Google, Jeevansathi, Shaadi and SimplyMarry to court for
trademark infringement related to the sponsored competitive
advertisements that appeared on Google search results, as well as
during keyword suggestion for Google AdWords. It had demanded Rs
10.5 lakh as compensation for the infringement. We had pointed out
how even BharatMatrimony was buying keywords and showing up in ads
when searching for competition, to which Janakiraman had
responded that Google should stop everyone including Consim.
Last year, Consumer
Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), a non profit consumer advocacy
group, had also
filed a Preliminary Information Report with the Competition
Commission, urging the agency to investigate “the potential
anticompetitive conduct of Google in the Indian internet,
e-commerce market, online advertising and related markets.”
This news item can also be viewed at:
http://www.medianama.com/
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