TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s antitrust watchdog said Monday that U.S. search giant Google must fix advertising search restrictions affecting Yahoo in Japan.
The Fair Trade Commission said in a statement that a recent investigation into Google’s practices found that the company was undermining fair competition in the advertising market.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Yahoo has merged with Japanese social media platform Line, but Line Yahoo declined to comment.
The commission said the suspicious conduct by Google began about 10 years ago and continued for more than seven years.
The committee said Google will undergo a review over the next three years to ensure it implements the necessary changes. No immediate fines or other penalties have been imposed on Google, which remains popular among Japanese people.
The commission’s move follows another setback for Google in Japan. Last week, Japanese doctors filed a civil lawsuit against the company, demanding damages for numerous baseless, defamatory and false statements.
The Tokyo District Court is seeking 1.4 million yen in damages from 63 medical workers over reviews posted on Google Maps.
In response, Google said it is working “around the clock” to reduce misleading and false information on its platform, and is using a combination of human and technical resources to “remove fraudulent reviews.” Stated.
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Yuri Kageyama appears in X https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
