TOKYOApril 22 (News On Japan) – In a historic move, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has issued its first administrative sanction against US tech giant Google.
Nakajima Nako, the Senior Examination Officer at the JFTC, stated: “There is a suspicion that Google has violated the provisions of the Antimonopoly Act.” This revolves around the ‘search-related advertising’ service, which displays advertisements related to searched terms on websites. Since 2010, “LINE Yahoo” has received technology from Google to support this service.
According to the JFTC, Google has restricted the display of some LINE Yahoo search ads since 2014. Despite Google submitting a prevention plan to prevent further problems, the JFTC today implemented an administrative action to enforce this plan.
This is the first time Google has been subject to administrative action by the JFTC. Going forward, the advertising company will undergo regular audits involving external experts to ensure compliance.
On the other hand, Google claims that “it has not been found to have violated antitrust laws,” emphasizing that its practices have not been legally declared illegal.
Source: TBS
