Yelp Reactivates Google Antitrust Complaint In EU

(RTTNews) - Yelp Inc. (YELP) filed paperwork with the European Union's antitrust agency to reactivate a complaint against Google, which Yelp has long claimed favors its own services in searches versus potential competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Yelp senior vice president of public policy Luther Lowe reportedly said that the company is seeking to obtain a ruling similar to the one the EU granted over comparison shopping for local searches, referring to the $2.9 billion fine leveled against the Alphabet Inc.-owned Google last year.

"The fine caught the headlines, but the most important thing that came out of it was the finding of guilt," Lowe said. Google has denied the allegations and is appealing the decision.

According to Lowe, 40% of all searching is local, and as a result is critical to Google's business. The center of the complaint revolves around Google's alleged practice of first displaying links from its own services such as Google Maps, and then listing results from sites like Yelp or other sources of potentially better information.