Local company takes Google SA to Competition Commission

Entelligence filed a formal complaint against Google South Africa with the Competition Commission of South Africa on Friday, 29 August 2008, for abuse of dominance in terms of Section S8(d)(i) of the Competition Act 89 of 1998, which prohibits a firm from “requiring or inducing a supplier or customer to not deal with a competitor”. Entelligence is alleging that Google SA increased the cost per click for Yellow Pages AdWords advertising drastically without advance notification, that Google SA did not disclose upfront that it intended to pitch for the Yellow Pages account directly - after Entelligence had shared its strategy and demonstrated its proprietary technology with Google SA - and is now refusing to renew its accounts held with Google and that it will prevent Entelligence from creating any new accounts in an attempt to service Yellow Pages. Google South Africa was not available for comment.