Google Still Searching For Answer To CCI Query Over Abuse Of Dominance Finding

Google, the Internet search giant, has sought an extension for September 10 deadline to respond to the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) finding that the company had abused its position of dominance, forcing advertisers to spend more. A Competition lawyer said “It is a routine thing to file for such extensions, particularly because the nature of this response will be lengthy.”The basis of Google’s argument cannot be changed substantially because this is a case being argued with anti-trust authorities the world over, experts said. The best approach would be for the company to use excerpts from the report to counter the conclusions drawn in it, they said. It is unclear if the extension will be granted considering that the company was fined Rs 1 crore for delaying proceedings last year. Google declined to comment.

Google then argued for the inclusion of vertical search engines such as travel portals to check air fares or social networks for people-related questions where a consumer looking for answers could achieve the same outcome. In this regard, the commission sought a response from Facebook, which responded by saying its results were restricted to captive users and were not comparable with a horizontal web search like Google.