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Jobindex Lodges Antitrust Complaint Against “Google for Jobs”
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Jobindex Lodges Antitrust Complaint Against “Google for Jobs”

Story Highlights

Alphabet is slammed with yet another antitrust complaint. In an already unfavorable macro environment, these claims stand to further diminish the attractiveness of the stock.

Technology behemoth Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL) business unit, Google, is facing yet another antitrust complaint, this time from rival Danish job-search engine, Jobindex.

The complaint was lodged with the European Union (EU) under unfair trade practices. According to the complaint, Google puts forth results of its own job search service, Google for Jobs, at the topmost section of the page on Google. After its European launch in 2018, Google for Jobs was slammed with complaints from 23 online job search rivals in 2019, alleging a loss of market share due to Google’s push to market its own search engine.

EU Antitrust Chief Margrethe Vestager has looked into the matter before and has been on the sidelines on the issue. However, the latest complaint could push Vestager to look deeper into the matter, Reuters noted.

Although Google claimed to have made changes to its portal in Europe previously, Vestager fined the search engine more than $8.4 billion in penalties due to anticompetitive practices on several counts to date.

How Does Google for Jobs Work?

Google for Jobs is a job exchange portal that accumulates and displays jobs across the web, allowing candidates to view job listings in their Google search engine. However, the service does not allow applicants to apply for jobs directly on the search engine, and they are routed to third-party websites for the application.

Moreover, candidates can shortlist, save, and set alerts for their favored job postings on Google for Jobs, making it easier for future reference.

Jobindex, one of the leading job engines in Denmark with the largest job database, has complained that Google has tipped the balance in its favor by practicing anticompetitive steps.

Kaare Danielsen, Founder and CEO of Jobindex, stated that it lost nearly 20% of search engine traffic to Google for Jobs’ poor service, hampering not just the candidates’ chances of screening for the best available jobs in the market but also the recruitment services’ reach to maximum job seekers.

Jobindex has also accused Google for Jobs of copying some of its own ads without permission and marketing them on the portal against its business partner’s consent.

Danielsen said, “This does not just stifle competition amongst recruitment services but directly impairs labour markets, which are central to any economy.”

The CEO pleaded with the EU to take strict action against Google for Jobs while also imposing multiple periodic payments to ensure compliance for the long term.

Target Price

With 30 unanimous Buys, GOOGL stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating. The average Alphabet price target of $3,138.17 implies 33% upside potential to current levels. Meanwhile, its stock has lost 18.6% so far this year.

Website Traffic

TipRanks’ Website Traffic Tool provides insight into Alphabet’s steadily diminishing website visits. In March 2022, the total global estimated visits across all devices peaked at 102.24 billion, followed by 87.50 billion visits in April, and 73.74 billion visits in May.

Notably, in May, Alphabet’s website traffic recorded a 15.72% year-over-year decrease in monthly visits. However, year-to-date, website traffic growth has remained somewhat constant with a marginal increase of 0.28% compared to the same period last year.

Ending Thoughts

Alphabet stock is facing the brunt of market turmoil similar to other beaten-down tech stocks. However, the company boasts a wide moat and stands to benefit from a robust cloud network, a trending YouTube channel, and the world’s largest search engine. Once the macroeconomic headwinds are behind us, Alphabet will start recouping its lost share.

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