Australia vs Google

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian Government’s consumer watchdog, is suing Google Inc, Google Australia and Google Ireland for misleading and deceptive conduct because of deceptive Adwords ads presented next to Google search results.

The ACCC says that car ads on Google took users to the website of The Trading Post, a weekly classifieds newspaper owned by Australia’s largest telecommunications company Telstra.

This isn’t the first case worldwide where Google has had to defend itself against allegations such as these. So far Google has been successful in its defense against individual actions in the United States, however, this would likely be the first case where Google has been challenged at this level by a Government body. Trade practices laws in Australia are stronger than similar laws in the United States, so this isn’t a case in which Google will be assured a win.