CCI probe on Google's anti-competitive practices goes sluggish

BANGALORE: A probe by Indian authorities to examine if Google abused its dominant position in the Internet search engine market is progressing at a sluggish pace, mainly due to a lack of understanding on Internet-related issues. The Competition Commission of India’s (CCI’s) investigation — to find if Google violated the Competition Act, 2002 — began in August 2012 and was to have reached a conclusion in January. However, it has been delayed for over six months now. People with direct knowledge of the investigations said the probe is unlikely to be completed any time soon.


“A Supreme Court special investigation team can do a better justice. The more the delay, the more will be the exploitation of its dominant position by Google,” said Prashant Mali, a lawyer and president of Mumbai-based law firm Cyber Law Foundation, which specialises in Internet-related issues. With over 100 million users, India is one of the largest markets for Google which has more than a 95 per cent share in Internet search. “The speed (of investigations) has been very slow with no updates from the CCI,” he said.

The CCI investigation was triggered by a complaint from advocacy group Consumers Unity and Trust Society (CUTS), which claimed the search- engine provider was abusing its dominance in India’s online search and display advertising market. To illustrate its point, the complaint cited the example of a Google search for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The first five results to pop up were about his Google Plus pages. His Facebook page came only eighth. Facebook and Google Plus are rivals in the social networking space.

CUTS Associate Director Udai Mehta said the Competition Commission of India has been struggling with this investigation due to a “knowledge issue.” “We haven’t heard from CCI after the investigation began in August. The consensus is that they are not equipped with the right skill-sets to examine this issue,” he said.

CCI spokeswoman Seema Gaur said the matter is currently with the Director General’s office and that the CCI does not interfere with investigations. “The investigations are expected to be completed shortly, after which the Commission would deliberate on the findings of the DG as per the process envisaged under the Act,” Gaur said in an email response. Google did not reply to an email seeking its comments.

Until about six months ago, Google was under a similar investigation by the United States’ Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It is also being investigated by European Union law makers for alleged anti-competitive practices. A senior lawyer, who is directly involved with the Competition Commission of India investigation, said India has sought the FTC’s help in this matter. The two agencies had signed a memorandum of understanding last year. In an email response, FTC spokesperson Peter Kaplan said he cannot “confirm or deny” whether it is helping CCI with the Google investigation.

In February last year, matrimonial site Bharatmatrimony.com had filed a complaint against Google for engaging in anti-competitive practices relating to its Ad-Words platform, the company’s advertising channel that sells keywords to advertisers and creates advertisements on its search screen. According to Bharatmatrimony.com, Google was selling keywords relating to its websites to rivals. Bharatmatrimony.com Founder Murugavel Janakiraman did not respond to an email.

CUTS’ Mehta said the advocacy firm plans to soon write to the CCI, asking for more clarity on the state of the investigation.

indu.nandakumar@timesgroup.com