Yelp Sues Google for Antitrust Violations

Yelp has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of leveraging its monopoly in the search market to favor its own local search products over competitors. The lawsuit, which comes shortly after a federal ruling labeled Google a monopolist, claims that Google's practices divert traffic and revenue from Yelp and other rivals, effectively stifling competition. Yelp alleges that Google has not only prioritized its own reviews but also scraped data from Yelp to enhance its services, undermining Yelp's ability to reach customers. Google's spokesperson dismissed the claims as repetitive and previously rejected by the FTC and courts. This lawsuit adds to Google's legal challenges, particularly amid a separate Department of Justice case that seeks to break up its advertising business. Yelp's action highlights a broader scrutiny of antitrust issues in the tech industry.