Tracking everything, manipulating search results, etc. etc. etc.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google
"Criticism and controversy
Google's market dominance has led to prominent media coverage, including
criticism of the company over issues such as
aggressive tax avoidance,
[255] search neutrality,
copyright,
censorship of search results and content,
[256] and
privacy.
[257][258] Other criticisms include alleged misuse and manipulation of search results, its use of others'
intellectual property, concerns that its
compilation of data may violate people's
privacy, and the
energy consumption of its servers, as well as concerns over traditional business issues such as
monopoly,
restraint of trade,
anti-competitive practices, and
patent infringement.
Google adhered to the
Internet censorship policies of China,
[259] enforced by means of filters colloquially known as "The
Great Firewall of China". As a result, all Google services except for Chinese Google Maps are blocked from access within mainland China without the aid of VPNs, proxy servers, or other similar technologies.
The Intercept reported in August 2018 that Google is developing for the people's Republic of China a censored version of its search engine (known as
Dragonfly) "that will blacklist websites and search terms about human rights, democracy, religion, and peaceful protest".
[260][261] However, the project had been withheld due to privacy concerns.
[262]
Following media reports about
PRISM, NSA's massive electronic
surveillance program, in June 2013, several technology companies were identified as participants, including Google.
[263] According to leaks of said program, Google joined the PRISM program in 2009.
[264]
Google has worked with the
United States Department of Defense on drone software through the 2017 "Project Maven" that could be used to improve the accuracy of
drone strikes.
[265] Thousands of Google employees, including senior engineers, have signed a letter urging Google CEO
Sundar Pichai to end a controversial contract with the Pentagon.
[266] In response to the backlash, Google ultimately decided to not renew their DoD contract, set to expire in 2019.
[267]
Shona Ghosh, a journalist for
Business Insider, noted that an increasing digital
resistance movement against Google has grown. A major hub for critics of Google in order to organize to abstain from using Google products is the
Reddit page for the
subreddit /r/degoogle.
[268]
Litigation
Main article:
Google litigation
Google has been involved in a number of lawsuits including the
High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation which resulted in Google being one of four companies to pay a $415 million settlement to employees.
[269]
On June 27, 2017, the company received a record fine of
€2.42 billion from the
European Union for "promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of search results."
[270] Commenting on the penalty,
New Scientist magazine said: "The hefty sum – the largest ever doled out by the EU's competition regulators – will sting in the short term, but Google can handle it. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, made a profit of $2.5 billion (€2.2 billion) in the first six weeks of 2017 alone. The real impact of the ruling is that Google must stop using its dominance as a search engine to give itself the edge in another market: online price comparisons." The company disputed the ruling.
[271]
On July 18, 2018,
[272] the
European Commission fined Google €4.34 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules. The abuse of dominant position has been referred to Google's constraint applied on Android device manufacturers and network operators to ensure that traffic on Android devices goes to the Google search engine. On October 9, 2018, Google confirmed
[273] that it had appealed the fine to the
General Court of the European Union.
[274]
On January 21, 2019, French data regulator
CNIL imposed a record €50 million fine on Google for breaching the European Union’s
General Data Protection Regulation. The judgment claimed Google had failed to sufficiently inform users of its methods for collecting data to personalize advertising. Google issued a statement saying it was “deeply committed” to transparency and was “studying the decision” before determining its response.
[275]
On March 20, 2019, the European Commission imposed a €1.49 billion ($1.69 billion) fine on Google for preventing rivals from being able to “compete and innovate fairly” in the online advertising market.
[276] European Union competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Google had violated EU antitrust rules by “imposing anti-competitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites” that required them to exclude search results from Google’s rivals. Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice-president of global affairs, said the company had “already made a wide range of changes to our products to address the Commission’s concerns,” and that "we'll be making further updates to give more visibility to rivals in Europe."
[277]"
