Japan's antitrust watchdog has issued a directive to U.S. tech giant Google to address its advertising search restrictions that are impacting Yahoo in Japan. The Japan Fair Trade Commission conducted a study that revealed Google's practices were impeding fair competition in the advertising market.
Google responded by stating that it has fully cooperated with the commission's investigation and emphasized that no violations of anti-monopoly laws were found. The company pledged to implement the commission's recommendations to provide valuable search functions to Japanese users and advertisers.
Yahoo, which recently merged with the Japanese social media platform Line, declined to comment on the matter.
The alleged anti-competitive practices by Google reportedly spanned over a decade and persisted for more than seven years, according to the commission. As a result, Google will be subject to monitoring for the next three years to ensure compliance with the necessary changes.
Despite these developments, Google remains popular in Japan, with no immediate fines or penalties imposed by the commission.
In a separate incident, Japanese doctors have filed a civil lawsuit against Google, seeking damages for what they claim are unwarranted negative and inaccurate comments posted on Google Maps. The lawsuit, filed in the Tokyo District Court, demands compensation for 63 medical professionals affected by the disparaging reviews.
Google responded to the lawsuit by asserting its commitment to combating misleading or false information on its platform. The company stated that it is actively working to remove fraudulent reviews using a combination of human oversight and technological tools.
