ACCC appeals Google decision

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has appealed its lost decision against Google last month in ACCC v Trading Post Australia Pty Ltd and Google.

The ACCC was successful against Trading Post who had falsely associated itself with car dealer Kloster Ford in its Google Ads. The ACCC had joined Google to the proceedings on the basis that it had failed to properly distinguish its sponsored results with its organic results (results which are not paid for but which appear on the basis of relevance).

Justice Nicholas dismissed the action against Google on the basis that Google merely communicated the advertisements and were themselves, not responsible for the implied misrepresentations.

His Honour found that most people could appreciate the difference between organic and sponsored results although he did comment that changing the phrase “sponsored links” to “advertisements” would better help people appreciate the difference between sponsored and organic results.

The ACCC decision to appeal has been based on the fact that "The role of search engine providers as publishers of paid content needs to be closely examined in the online age. Specifically, it is important that they are held directly accountable for misleading or deceptive paid search results when they have been closely engaged in presenting and publishing those results.” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

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Related Links

• Google off the hook in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Trading Post Australia Pty Ltd