By: Duke Doherty
Google has hesitated to take action against marketing practices by media conglomerate IAC that it deemed to be deceptive because of fears it would exacerbate its own antitrust scrutiny, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday
WSJ reported: While Google removed five IAC browser extensions, the report says, others remain available. People familiar with the matter told the Journal that executives including Google’s Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker feared penalties against IAC may be seen as anticompetitive at a time when Google faces an antitrust lawsuit from the Department of Justice and other antitrust investigations led by attorneys general from most states.
IAC is an American holding company that owns brands across 100 countries, mostly in media and Internet. The company is headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. Joey Levin, who previously led the company’s search & applications segment, has served as Chief Executive Officer since June 2015. Barry Diller is the Chairman and Senior Executive. The company employees around 10,000 and holds over 2 billion in assets
Some of their most important brand are Angie’s List, CraftJack Home Adviser, ImproveNet
MyBuilder Werkspot, HomeStars, ImproveNet, MyBuilder Werkspot, Vimeo, Investopedia
Lifewire, Liquor.com, Vimeo, Vimeo Livestream TripSavvy, Verywell and leftist news outlet Daily Beast.
IAC responded to the report by saying Google had already approved the browser extensions and even worked closely with IAC to make them compliant.
“Google has taken hundreds of millions of dollars from us to advertise and distribute these products in the Chrome Store. There’s nothing new here — Google has used their position to reduce our browser business to the last small corner of the internet, which they’re now seeking to quash,” an IAC spokesperson said in a statement. “Google exercises significant control over what we do with these products. Last year we collaborated closely with Google on an extensive review and approval of our entire Chrome product line — including how products are advertised and installed, down to the font size— and all our products were again confirmed and approved this year in conjunction with their renewal of our partnership agreement”, CNBC reported
Google faces an antitrust lawsuit by the Department of Justice alleging it has illegally used its monopoly power to tie up distribution channels for competitors in the online search market, CNBC said.
