Google Search Competitor in France Files EU Antitrust Complaint Over Ads

Google, the world’s leading search engine, blocks smaller competitors from generating advertising revenue, a competitor said in a complaint to European Union regulators.

1PlusV sent a complaint to the European Commission claiming Google refused to allow so-called vertical search sites to use its advertising service, the French web publisher said. “1PlusV accuses Google of pursuing a strategy of foreclosure against vertical search engines,” the company said in a statement. Vertical search engines limit their answers to one category, such as travel information. Google, Microsoft Corp.’s Bing and others offer horizontal search engines that comb all categories for information.