Volume IV

Issue : 6: March 23, 2006

• Lawsuit Attacks Googles Secret Formula
• Court Rules Unauthorized Website Scraping May Be Actionable as Unjust Enrichment
• BC Court Finds Source Code Within Definition of Software at Time of Sale of Business
• UK Court Ruled ISPs Not Liable For Posting of Defamatory Content
• Canadian Cyberstalker Jailed
• OPC Issues Guidelines for the Use of Video Cameras in Public Spaces
• Class Action Launched Against Music Labels Alleging Price Fixing in Online Market
• Study Concludes RFID Tags May Be Vulnerable To Viruses
• European Commission Begins Public Inquiry into RFID Tag Technology
• OPP Cracks Down on Wireless Internet Theft
• Sony Faces Setback in Patent Battle Over Vibrotactile Technology
• Google Settles Click Fraud Suit For $90 Million
• Quebec Company Fined for Evading Private Copying Levies

Home > Volume IV > Issue 6: March 23, 2006 > Lawsuit Attacks Googles Secret Formula

Lawsuit Attacks Googles Secret Formula

A civil complaint recently filed in the U.S. District Court alleges that Google has engaged in anti-competitive behaviour and misled the public by positioning its search engine as an objective source for finding Internet content. The Plaintiff, KinderStart, a Website devoted to information about children, claims that it was dropped from Google’s index a year ago without warning. KinderStart says that its traffic plunged significantly after Google dropped it. Google’s secret method of ranking Websites is designed to elevate in search results the sites with content most relevant to a request. However, according to the lawsuit, Google’s attempts to police its ranking system results in Websites being unfairly banished, or, receiving low rankings. Google has previously defended its right to revise its formula and to keep the formula a secret. So far, a court has never ordered Google to reveal the formula for ranking Websites.

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