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Andreas Wiebe - Ict Markets and Regulation
Andreas Wiebe - Ict Markets and Regulation
Andreas Wiebe - Ict Markets and Regulation
Geographical Market
Country versions
Search engine services – Dominant Position
2007, Germany :
Google 89%, Yahoo 3 %, MSN 1,5%
2005, U.S.A.:
Google 57%, Yahoo 23%, MSN 10
Access to search engine services – Discrimination
Downgrading in PageRank
-> Equal treatment in implementation of search algorithm
Justification: Internal Quality Guidelines
Business judgment/discretion
Protection against certain „bad“ forms of search engine
optimization?
Competition for quality needs leeway
Access to search engine services – Discrimination
Kinderstart.com:
Claim on re-admission to index, as exclusion was not based on
objective criteria
BMW:
Claim on re-admission upon proof in specific case that it was
„good“ technique that was used
Access to advertising services – Discrimination
Market definition
Search engine advertising
“intermediation” of advertising on third party pages
Ad serving and management software (DoubleClick)
Dominant position
U.S. 2005: Google 49% at Keyword Advertising
Worldwide: AdSense 56% (2006), 80% (2011)
Total online advertising: 34,9% (2009), 47,6% (2012)
Discrimination
Rejecting access to advertising programme
Material justification
Infringement of statutory rules
What about cases of doubt?
Internal Guidelines
Wide discretion, quality function pertinent ?
Internet Economy – is it different?
“Knowledge is Power”
Fundamental right: freedom of information and
communication
Securing information access
information provision on pure private basis is critical
“Gatekeeper”-Function
Refuge to public broadcasting regulation?
Need for “public” search engines?
Active information policy
The other side: protecting privacy
“Whoever wants to do something that others shouldn´t know about, can forget
about it” (Erich Schmidt, CEO of Google 2009)
The world will be a better place if we all show openly who we are and
present ourselves to our friends the same way
Moral rigorism by radical transparency – in an open and transparent world
people would have to bear the consequences of their behaviour and will
be more responsible and tolerant (Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook)
Resume for regulation
Andreas.Wiebe@jura.uni-goettingen.de