Brussels GA_P (June 2017)

Google’s comparison shopping tool «Google Shopping» is a tool that enables consumers to compare products and prices online. When Google entered the comparison shopping tools’ market back in 2004, there were already certain operators established in the market. To boost the use of its own service, in 2008, Google decided to put in practice a new strategy. First, Google gave its own comparator the best placement, concretely, when a customer made a search on Google for which Google Shopping could show results, these were shown at or near the top of the list of results. Second, competing comparators were displayed in Google’s results lists on the basis of certain search algorithms, which resulted in rivals’ websites being displayed on page four (or even further) of the list of results. As a consequence, Google Shopping gained much more visibility than its competitors, especially in smartphones where screens are smaller…