(Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google said it has removed several browser extensions of online conglomerate IAC/Interactive Corp for “policy violations” and is reviewing “enforcement options. “IN the statement to Reuters, Google’s spokesman did not specify which specific policies it felt were violated by IAC and did not mention what exact options it was considering.
An IAC spokeswoman disputed that the extensions violated Google policies. “Google has taken hundreds of millions of dollars from us to advertise and distribute these products in the Chrome Store,” she told Reuters in an emailed statement.
“There’s nothing new here – Google has used their position to reduce our browser business to the last small corner of the internet, which they’re now seeking to quash,” the statement added. Google’s investigators found that IAC’s browser extensions often promise functions they do not deliver and steer users toward extra ads, the WSJ reported, citing sources and documents.
Google so far has not acted on the internal recommendation of its Chrome trust and safety team regarding IAC in part because the two are rivals in some categories and because Google executives are concerned penalties could be viewed as anti-competitive, the newspaper reported on.wsj.com/2JZcHf1.
The IAC spokeswoman said Google had approved its extensions in the Chrome Store for years as part of its partnership agreement.
“Google exercises significant control over what we do with these products”, she said in the statement.
SOURCE:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-google-iac-interactive/google-removes-some-iac-browser-extensions-for-policy-violations-idUSKBN28G0TR