Google liable for defamation based on search results

A recent Australian case concerning defamation and Google:

Defteros v Google LLC [2020] VSC 219 (30 April 2020)

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSC//2020/219.html

"Google submitted that it could not be liable as a secondary publisher, because its search engine is fully automated and does not intend the communication of any particular words or images, including any third party webpage to which a user might navigate. I do not accept this submission....

As the law stands in Australia, the common law casts the publication net wide. The liability of publishers is then limited by a range of common law and statutory defences. In particular, the common law ‘defence’ of innocent dissemination operates to limit the potential liability of search engine providers. Later in this judgment, I also consider the application of the statutory defence of qualified privilege to Google search results."

Google may be liable for defamation for search engine results

Today, the High Court of Australia decided that Google must go to trial to determine whether Google is liable for defamation regarding its display of search engine results and also in respect of Google's autocomplete function.

See KWM article Google this: The High Court allows Google to be sued for defamation

See Sydney Morning Herald article

See HCA judgment Trkulja v Google LLC [2018] HCA 25

Paying for Popularity

An article on paying to get higher search engine rankings.

Google and Defamation and Jursidiction

Google Australia has a defamation case against it tossed out, on the basis that it is Google Inc. that is operating the search engine and Blogger.

See SMH

Google Australia does not control the Google search engine

Google Australia Pty Ltd does not like being sued in Australia.  In a recent Australian lawsuit, Google said:

• Google Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Google International LLC and Google Inc is the ultimate holding company 
• Google Australia is not authorised to, and has no ability to, control or direct the conduct of Google Inc and is not responsible for the day-to-day operations of Google Inc 
• Google Inc owns and operates the domains google.com.au and google.com. The search engines at the domains mentioned are exclusively provided by, operated by, and controlled by Google Inc 
• Google Australia does not have any ability to control or direct action in respect of blocking URLs from google.com.au

The Australian court found: "There is no reasonable prospect of Mr Rana proving that Google Australia owns the domains in question, or that it has the ability to control or direct the conduct of Google Inc."  Thus, the claims against Google Australia were dismissed.

The Court also stated:
"In short, whether or not a search engine could be considered a publisher of defamatory material is not settled in Australia, and accordingly, it would not be appropriate to refuse to give leave to serve the proceedings and on that basis effectively dismiss Mr Rana’s claim against Google Inc: A v Google New Zealand Ltd"

See Rana v Google Australia Pty Ltd [2013] FCA 60 

Lawsuit Against Google For AutoComplete

An Australian doctor is suing Google for regarding its auto-complete function, that suggests the word "bankrupt" when his name is entered in the search box.
See Full Story

Google Changes Search Algorithm to Make Results More Timely

"Acknowledging that some searches were giving people stale results, Google revised its methods on Thursday to make the answers timelier. It is one of the biggest tweaks to Google’s search algorithm, affecting about 35 percent of all searches.

The new algorithm is a recognition that Google, whose dominance depends on providing the most useful results, is being increasingly challenged by services like Twitter and Facebook, which have trained people to expect constant updates with seconds-old news.

It is also a reflection of how people use the Web as a real-time news feed — that if, for example, you search for a baseball score, you probably want to find the score of a game being played at the moment, not last week, which is what Google often gave you."

Full story in NY Times.

Google Modifies Its Algorithm

Google has changed its algorithm that returns search results, to remove content farm websites. See NYT.

Manipulating Google Search Results

The NY Times has a very good story about how JC Penney manipulated Google search engine results. Google did not catch this until the NYT pointed this out. Once Google decided to act, Google manually changed the results. For many searches, JC Penny went from 1st place to about 75th place.

See Search Optimisation and Its Dirty Little Secrets.

See also Search Engine Optimisation to Lure Readers

The Law of Google 2010 (updated)

These are my notes for class for 1 March 2010. The class is "The law of Google". Have a look at these websites (and if you have a Google account, log in to that account first):

1. The breadth of Google.

Search
www.google.com
www.google.com.au
www.google.co.uk
www.google.ca
www.google.de
www.google.com.br
www.google.com.bd
www.igoogle.com
News
Images
Blogs
Maps
Videos
Books
Scholarly Papers
Finance
Custom Search, example: Leading Australian Law Firms
Syndicated Search and example and example
Directory
Products
Google Base

Google Squared

Alerts

Search tricks and tips
Internal search
Site Search
Site Map

Other Google Stuff
Toolbar and SideWiki
Google Accounts
Web History
Gmail

Google Wave (plus video here)
Photos: Picasa and Picasa Web
Chrome Browser
Blogger
Groups
Reader
Notebook
Calendar
Docs
Talk
YouTube

Buzz

Android

More information: Wikipedia
How Google Works
Google Sitemap

2. AdWords and AdSense: Google Advertising

A. Do these searches on Google, Australian Googleand UK Google and compare results:

• Noosa
• Hilton
  
• Q1
• cheap accomodation queensland
  
• flowers paddington
• the tallest building in brisbane is
• DSL-G604T
• Sony
• Harvey World Travel
• Harvey World Travel Insurance

Have a look at the two Google search interfaces on this page (http://www.cyberspac.com/Cyber_Law_and_Policy/Search.html) and do the same searches on both and compare the results.

B. AdSense

Look at the Google Ads on these websites:

• NY Times
• Van Gogh Gallery
• Brisbane Apartments and Reviews
  
• Cyberlaw and Policy and example article
• This Blog (look top right --->
  

More information on Adsense

C. Google Trends and Google Analytics
Also, Google Insights for Search

D. AdWords

• create Ad
• select Keywords, budget and display location
• people then click on your Ad.
  

Terms: pay-per-click (PPC); cost-per-click (CPC); cost-per-impression (CPM); click through rate (CTR)

KeyWord Tool and Tool

More information: Google Learning Centre

E. Other types of Google advertising
Maps

Local Maps

Local Directory

You Tube

F. Problems & Issues

(a) Pay Per Click Websites

Look at these websites:

• lawyers.com.au
• Red Balloons
• Brisbane.com
• boq.com
  

(What is legitimate? See RealSpanking and Jackassand UStream)

(b) Click Fraud
What percentage of click are fraudulent? See this story and here too.
Clickfraud is old news: Crack-down

(c) Trade Mark Issues
Google Procedure
ACCC Lawsuit: See here and here and here andhere(Google filed its defence on 17 November 2008.)
RescueCom Lawsuit
French Lawsuit
Geico Lawsuit and settlement

More information
Google Business Solutions

3. Legal issues and lawsuits

Book Search Lawsuit and here
Caching & Copyright: see here and here and here

Have a look at other Google posts on this blog: Click Here

google search tricks

The Law of Google

These are my notes for class for Tuesday, 3 March 2009. The class is "The law of Google".

1. The breadth of Google.

Search
www.google.com
www.google.com.au
www.google.co.uk
www.google.ca
www.google.de
www.google.com.br
www.google.com.bd
www.igoogle.com
News
Images
Blogs
Maps
Videos
Books
Scholarly Papers
Finance
Custom Search, example: Leading Australian Law Firms
Syndicated Search and example
Directory
Products
Google Base

Search tricks and tips
Internal search
Site Search
Site Map

Other Google Stuff
Toolbar
Google Accounts
Web History
Gmail
Photos: Picasa and Picasa Web
Chrome Browser
Blogger
Groups
Reader
Notebook
Calendar
Docs
Talk
YouTube

More information: Wikipedia
How Google Works
Google Sitemap

2. AdWords and AdSense: Google Advertising

A. Do these searches on Google, Australian Google and UK Google and compare results:

• Noosa
• Hilton
  
• Q1
• cheap accomodation queensland
  
• flowers paddington
• the tallest building in brisbane is
• DSL-G604T
• Sony
• Harvey World Travel
• Harvey World Travel Insurance
  

B. AdSense

Look at the Google Ads on these websites:

• NY Times
• Van Gogh Gallery
• Brisbane Apartments and Reviews
  
• Cyberlaw and Policy and example article
• This Blog (look top right --->
  

More information on Adsense

C. Google Trends and Google Analytics

D. AdWords

• create Ad
• select Keywords, budget and display location
• people then click on your Ad.
  

Terms: pay-per-click (PPC); cost-per-click (CPC); cost-per-impression (CPM); click through rate (CTR)

KeyWord Tool and Tool

More information: Google Learning Centre

E. Other types of Google advertising
Maps

F. Problems & Issues

(a) Pay Per Click Websites

Look at these websites:

• lawyers.com.au
• Red Balloons
• Brisbane.com
• boq.com
  

(What is legitimate? See RealSpanking and Jackass and UStream)

(b) Click Fraud
What percentage of click are fraudulent? See this story and here too.
Clickfraud is old news: Crack-down

(c) Trade Mark Issues
Google Procedure
ACCC Lawsuit: See here and here and here and here (Google filed its defence on 17 November 2008.)
RescueCom Lawsuit
French Lawsuit
Geico Lawsuit and settlement

More information
Google Business Solutions

3. Legal issues and lawsuits

Book Search Lawsuit and here
Caching & Copyright: see here and here and here

Also, see older posts in this blog, such as this post from 2006.