In a dramatic escalation of its long-running feud with Google, Yelp filed an antitrust lawsuit against the tech behemoth in California federal court on Wednesday. The complaint centers on accusations that Google has abused its dominance in online search to prioritize its own local search services over those of competitors like Yelp, a practice Yelp claims has caused significant damage to its business and stifled competition in the digital marketplace.
Yelp Sues Google in Antitrust Case : Yelp’s Antitrust Battle Heats Up
This latest legal action comes after years of public lobbying by Yelp against Google’s alleged self-preferencing in search results. Yelp’s suit draws directly from the Justice Department’s recent success in labeling Google as an “illegal search monopolist.” With this legal foundation, Yelp is taking the fight directly to Google, accusing the company of leveraging its overwhelming power in general search to crush local competitors and maintain a stranglehold on the local search advertising market.
