Google Responds To News Corp Criticism

(RTTNews) - In response to News Corp's (NWS, NWSA) criticism that Google Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) is a "platform for piracy and the spread of malicious networks", the Internet search giant on Thursday came up with a point-by-point rebuttal and said that Google has done more than any other company to help tackle online piracy.

In a letter to EU Commissioner for Competition, Joaquin Almunia, on September 8, News Corp Chief Executive Officer Robert Thomson had mentioned about the perceived abuse of power by Google. Thomson urged Almunia to reconsider a proposed antitrust settlement between Google and the European Commission.

In his letter, Thomson said, "The company has evolved from a wonderfully feisty, creative Silicon Valley startup to a vast, powerful, often unaccountable bureaucracy, which is sometimes contemptuous of intellectual property and routinely configures its search results in a manner that is far from objective."

He also said that Google benefited significantly from the efforts and investments of others, and must do more to ensure that rights are respected and its power search platform is not abused to eliminate competition. He added that Google has evolved from a company that is "open" to one that is selectively closed and willing to exploit its dominant market position to stifle competition.

Thomson also said that sudden changes made to the ranking and display of Google search results inevitably maximise income for Google and punish small companies that have become dependent on Google for their livelihood.

In response to News Corp's criticism, Rachel Whetstone, SVP of Global Communications, said in Google's official blog that Google has done more than any other company to help tackle online piracy.

Whetstone said that in 2013, Google removed 222 million web pages from Google Search due to copyright infringement and also downgrades websites that regularly violate copyright in its search rankings. Further, Whetstone noted that Google has invested millions of dollars in innovative technology called ContentID to tackle piracy on You Tube.

Whetstone also defended Google's practice of ranking search results and said that while Google is very popular in Europe, it is not "the gatekeeper to the web, as some claim".

She noted that a lot of people go directly to news sites such as the wsj.com or thesun.co.uk, rather than through Google's search engine. News Corp owns the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

"Because the competition is just one click away online, barriers to switching are very, very low," Whetstone wrote.

Further, Whetstone said that Google regularly changes its algorithms, making more than 500 changes every year. However, these changes are about improving the user experience, not punishing small companies, she added.

She also said that Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are still very much at the helm of Google. Larry is CEO, and both remain the inspiration behind Google's next generation of big bets such as self-driving cars, Loon, Fiber and more.

The fight between Google and News Corp comes amid a four-year antitrust investigation by European regulators into Google's alleged abuse of its dominant position in the Internet search and advertising business.

Google has been accused of favoring its own products and services over those of competitors in search results. As part of a proposed settlement reached with European regulators in February 2014, Google agreed to change how it displays search results to show more content from rival companies.

GOOG closed Thursday's trading at $575.06, down $12.93 or 2.20 percent on a volume of 1.93 million shares. However, in after-hours, the stock gained $1.89 or 0.33 percent to $576.95.