Search engine giant Google has been hit with an antitrust lawsuit by Yelp- an application that has become a leading source of user-generated reviews and ratings for businesses.
The American company claims in its lawsuit that Google has dominated local search searches and given priority to its reviews by using its power over online searches.
“Google abuses its monopoly power in general search to keep users within Google’s owned ecosystem and prevents them from going to rival sites,” Yelp Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in a blog post announcing the suit.
“This anticompetitive conduct siphons traffic and advertising revenue from vertical search services, like Yelp, that provide objectively higher quality local business content for consumers.”
READ ALSO: MARKET MONOPOLY: Google moves to appeal ruling in massive antitrust case
According to reports, the US action may be given more significance in light of a Department of Justice case in which the judge declared Google to be a search monopolist.
In response to the lawsuit filed by Yelp, a spokesperson for Google told Engadget that the claims are not new as similar complaints were thrown out years ago by the FTC.
“Yelp’s claims are not new. Similar claims were thrown out years ago by the FTC, and recently by the judge in the DOJ’s case. On the other aspects of the decision to which Yelp refers, we are appealing. Google will vigorously defend against Yelp’s meritless claims.”
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