Google hit with $6.9bn EU fine

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 17 & 19 : 19-Jul-18

Google has been ordered to pay a record fine of EUR4.34bn ($6.9bn) for breaching anti-trust laws in Europe. The case centred on Google’s practice of requiring smartphones that use the Android operating system to be sold with Google’s own apps and services already installed. The European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, says Google has sought to entrench the dominance of its search engine via Android. The European Union had previously fined Google EUR2.42bn in 2017 for giving its own products and services priority in search engine results.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, ALPHABET INCORPORATED, UNLOCKD PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, DOUBLECLICK INCORPORATED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA LLC, APPLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, EMARKETER INCORPORATED

Google braces for conga line of claims

Original article by Michael Pelly
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 15-Jun-18

Mills Oakley partner Stuart Gibson says at least 20 defamation cases against Google could proceed after the High Court ruled that Michael Trkulja can take legal action against the digital giant. Gibson represented Trkulja in his bid to overturn the Victorian Court of Appeal’s ruling that he had no prospect of success in his claim against Google. Trkulja launched legal action after search engine results implied that he was linked to Melbourne’s underworld.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, MILLS OAKLEY LAWYERS PTY LTD, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COURT OF APPEAL (VICTORIA), YAHOO! INCORPORATED, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Google flags $400m for journalism

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 22-Mar-18

Technology giant Google hopes to improve its relationship with international media companies via its Google News Initiative. Google has committed to investing $US300m ($A389m) in a range of news-related projects, including changes to its search algorithms to ensure that "authoritative" news sources are displayed first in its search results. Meanwhile, the Subscribe with Google project will make it easier for Google users to take out subscriptions with news publishers via Google’s platform.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, MAINCIHI, FIRST DRAFT, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Truth to triumph in Google’s new news algorithm

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 21-Mar-18

Technology giant Google has announced a range of initiatives that are designed to assist news publishers to gain more revenue from their content. Amongst other things, Google will change its algorithms to ensure that
"authoritative" news sources are given precedence in its search results, while it will also launch a program which will allow people to subscribe to a wide range of digital newspapers via their Google account.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BUZZFEED INCORPORATED, WPP PLC

Google changes tack, works with publishers on subscriptions

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 3-Oct-17

Digital giant Google has responded to news publishers’ concerns by adopting a "flexible sampling" model for news content accessed via its search results. This will replace the "first click free" model, and allows publishers to determine how many of their news articles consumers can read before requiring a paid subscription. Richard Gingras of Google says the company will also co-operate with publishers in streamlining the process of signing up for paid subscriptions.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, FINANCIAL TIMES GROUP