New Delhi The Competition Commission of India said Monday it had launched an anti-trust probe into Google's online advertising practices, deepening the internet giant's legal woes in the country.
S.L. Bunker, the secretary of the commission, said that the probe would take "at least a couple of months" to complete and was in response to a complaint from matchmaking website Bharatmatrimony.com.
"We are investigating Google," he said, adding that the matrimonial website "has filed information which is being investigated to see if it can be verified."
In February the Economic Times reported that Bharatmatrimony.com had complained that Google had "abused its dominance by engaging in discriminatory and retaliatory practices relating to AdWords."
"We have requested the Commission to investigate Google's practices and impose remedial measures to protect competition," a statement from the company was quoted as saying.
AdWords, which earned the bulk of Google's $36.5 billion (Dh134 billion) advertising revenues worldwide in 2011, sells keywords to companies which appear in the site's search engine, allowing them to promote their product online.
Rivals
Sources at Bharatmatrimony.com told the Economic Times the company had filed the complaint over AdWords' sale of keywords relating to Bharatmatrimony.com to its matchmaking rivals such as Shaadi.com.
A Google spokesman said the company had "not received any communication" on the matter and declined further comment.
