Japan orders Google to adjust ad search limits

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s antitrust watchdog said Monday that U.S. search giant Google must correct its search advertising restrictions affecting Yahoo in Japan.

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission said in a statement that its recent study into Google’s practices showed the company was undermining fair competition in the advertising market.

Yahoo Japan Corp., which has since merged with Japanese social media platform Line, began offering keyword-based search advertising services using Google technology after the two companies formed an alliance in 2010.

The Commission alleges that Google had imposed restrictions in its search advertising agreement with Yahoo Japan that for more than seven years hampered its ability to compete in targeted search advertising.

A Commission investigation to determine whether that violated the Antitrust Law led Google to remove the restrictions.

Google said in an emailed statement that it had fully cooperated with the commission’s investigation and emphasized that it has found no violations of antitrust laws. He promised to carry out the commission’s directives to provide “valuable” search functions to Japanese users and advertisers.

Line Yahoo declined to comment.

Google will undergo reviews over the next three years to ensure it makes the necessary changes, the commission detailed. It did not impose fines or other sanctions on Google, which remains popular among Japanese.

The commission’s action follows another setback for Google in Japan. Last week, Japanese doctors filed a civil lawsuit against the company, demanding compensation for what they say are baseless and often false derogatory comments.

The lawsuit filed in Tokyo District Court seeks 1.4 million yen ($9,400) in damages for 63 medical professionals for reviews posted on Google Maps.

Google responded that it works “24 hours a day” to reduce misleading or false information on its platform, combining human and technological resources “to eliminate fraudulent reviews.”