Published in News

Google in hotwater down-under

by on03 April 2012



Lied in its advertising


Internet search giant Google allowed Australian customers to post misleading and deceptive advertisements, a court has found.

Google will now have to establish a "compliance program" so that advertisers will not be able to post misleading or deceptive advertisements in the future. Google said it was "disappointed" by the Federal Court's decision that it should be held responsible for the content of advertisements. It said that advertisers should be responsible for the ads they create on the AdWords platform.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) originally lost the court case against Google on September 22, 2011, which claimed that the search giant was engaged in conduct likely to mislead or deceive the public. But that decision was appealed .

In judgment papers, Justice Jacobson along with Chief Justice Patrick Keane and Justice Bruce Lander said the primary judge in his September ruling "erred in failing to conclude that Google engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in four cases".

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