competition

Google's plans to block third-party cookies in Chrome have prompted "hundreds" of complaints in from businesses in Germany. They say the move is anti-competitive because Google will still be able to track users for its own advertising business. ... Apple's Safari browser already blocks third-party cookies. That means websites can issue and use their own cookies (for example, remembering somebody's location or interests to customize a web page) but cookies originally issued by another site won't work. That makes it considerably more difficult to track a user's activity across multiple websites. ... (view more)

US regulators want new rules on when companies - particularly tech firms - can merge. They say existing rules aren't designed to cover businesses that offer free services to consumers. Traditionally one of the key questions in approving or blocking ... mergers is whether it reduces competition to the point that consumers no longer benefit from price competition. The rules have only been updated once since 1984. Regulators say even that review in 2010 is now outdated as the tech world has changed so much. In particular, they point to the way many tech giants offer free services to the public and ... (view more)

Mysterious algorithms could harm online shoppers by aiding collusion according to a newly-published paper. Because the effects are personalized, it could be tricky to prove wrongdoing. The claims come in a researched paper published by the United ... Kingdom's Competition ... (view more)

Google could face a fine of billions of dollars over alleged anti-competitive behavior. It disputes the claims and says they don't take proper account of the role of Apple. The fine would come from the European Union, which oversees competition ... across 28 countries. It's expected to rule against Google in the biggest of three investigations into the company. All three investigations relate to a basic principle of EU competition law: it's generally OK for a company to dominate a market, and it's generally OK for a company to carry out anti-competitive behavior, but the combination of the two is ... (view more)

Google will reportedly face a fine of more than $3 billion for a series of alleged breaches of European competition laws. The penalty would be one-sixth of the maximum that could be imposed, but would still dwarf previous records. The penalty would ... come from the European Commission. Among many other roles, the commission oversees competition rules which apply to firms doing business across 28 European countries. For the record, this is a separate case launched last month , which the European Commission formally accused Google of using unfair rules in the way it pressures Android device ... (view more)

European officials have formally accused Google of breaching competition rules in the way it handles the Android system. They say the company unfairly used the system to push its search services. The claims come from the European Commission, the ... equivalent of the executive branch of the European Union. It oversees some elements of competition law that apply across 28 countries. The Commission has issued a Statement of Objections, which is formal notification that it is investigating alleged breaches. Google now has 12 weeks to respond to the claims. If found guilty it could face financial ... (view more)