• ClickZ, Friday, August 28, 2009 4:15 PM

Google is being investigated by the "Italian competition authorities," according to Jack Marshall. He writes that the allegations suggest Google is abusing its dominant position "and strangling publishers' ad revenue." A complaint from the Italian Federation of Newspaper Publishers prompted the investigation. The organization alleges the search giant is not transparent enough in how it indexes and prioritizes newspapers' online content.

Marshall reminds us that Google has a turbulent relationship with publishers, specially pointing to Google News. Content indexed by Google drives traffic to publisher sites, but publishers are "wary" of Google generating revenue from the articles and the information posted.

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