Google: On the Brightside with Public Citizen
April 8, 2011
In yet another chapter of Google’s courtroom controversies, the company now is making a case to coax all parties involved to allow massive amounts of documents to remain sealed. Concurrent with the appeal of the Rosetta Stone v. Google judgment, the non-profit group Public Citizen sought to unlock at least 800 pages of documents from the case record. PaidContent.org reports:
The battle over these sealed documents won’t affect what Rosetta Stone has access to, so it shouldn’t really affect the outcome of the case. But Google is fighting to keep sealed at least 800 pages of documents that could damage it from a PR perspective.
Said documents contain information regarding the levels of confusion experienced by users faced with trademark searches. Google was charged with allowing competitor or counterfeit outfits to use trademark keywords in their ads, and presenting these faux sites as sponsored links, effectively confusing prospective customers. Note that this is an appeal because Google rose victorious with the original judgment. Rosetta Stone, along with “thousands” of other trademark owners, are not satisfied.
Would this be an occurrence of filtering or could it a step toward objective search? While it is difficult to rectify the idea of ‘objective search’ with the simultaneous exchange of money lurking in the shadows, the possibility exists. In fact, even Public Citizen agrees with Google’s position and supports the selling of trademarked keywords in the name of the consumer; they simply are seeking full disclosure. That alone speaks volumes in Google’s defense.
Sarah Rogers, April 8, 2011
Freebie
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
