Google is also said to have amended its hotel rankings practices since September 2019.

Google has agreed to pay a fine of EUR 1.1 million (roughly Rs. 10 crores) after French authorities concluded the search engine displayed “misleading” rankings for French hotels.


Previously, Google used the official source Atout France as well as input from other hotel-industry websites in its algorithm to rank hotels from one to five stars.
After receiving complaints from hoteliers about Google’s rankings, the French government’s fraud and competition agency launched an investigation in 2019 and 2020. It said it was to monitor “the nature and fairness of the information provided by the platform” across 7,500 establishments.

KEY POINTS

  • Google has also struck a deal with Australia’s Seven West Media
  • Seven would supply content for Google’s News Showcase platform
  • Deal shows Seven splitting from rivals News Corp and Nine Entertainment

Source: The Verge