Life isn’t getting any simpler for the executives and lawyers who represent Google Germany. This weekend, word spread that three complaints against the organization have been filed with Germany’s Federal Cartel Office.
Ciao, which is a Microsoft-owned online network for shoppers, is behind one complaint. Euro-Cities, which is a mapping site, and publishers’ associations BDZV and VDZ are responsible for the other two. They’re unhappy about an advertising contract, Google Maps’s lack of fees, and Google News’s use of snippets, respectively.
Kay Oberbeck, a spokesperson for Google Germany, responded by telling the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, "We are very willing to explain our products and business practices to the Cartel Office and show that we are convinced these are in line with German and European law."
Still, no matter how sure Google is of its compliance, the company may be facing an uphill battle. Earlier this month, Germany’s justice minister alleged, "what’s taking shape there to a large extent is a giant monopoly," and Google’s been treated with hostility many previous times in the country, too.
More information should become available on Wednesday, which is the day the complaints were originally supposed to be made public.
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