Google fined over search suggestion

The Register reports.

The court said Google had ignored requests to remove the suggestion from its AutoComplete' search engine technology when users searched for insurance firm Lyonnaise de Garantie, a report by the Courthouse News Service said.

The Internet giant was ordered to remove suggestions for the word 'escroc' from searches for the company.

Google explained to the court that it did not influence the results of its AutoComplete technology, but rather the suggestions were the result of other users' searches, WebProNews notes.

That is to say, other people were searching for results about that insurance company being crooked. Google makes no representation as to whether the statement implied is true, accurate, etc. It simply is there because other people put it there.

While it's unlikely to have much impact in the US search industry, Forbes notes that the ruling “sets a bad precedent for Google in Europe”, Search Engine Watch writes.

This is yet another loss for Google in France. In 2010, CEO Eric Schmidt and Google were found guilty of defamation when the search engine suggested terms including “rapist” and “Satanist” for a plaintiff.

Also that year, Google was ordered to remove search suggestions of “scam” when users searched for Centre National Priv'e de Formation a Distance.