Suchmaschinen unter der Lupe: Informationsherrschaft und ihre Schranken

Search engines allow users quick access to information, which they are trying to find or discover through the search engine. Thus, search engines have become important information intermediaries. Due to their central role in information exchange and the prominent role played by Google, part of the public debate focuses on the question whether – and if so how – there is a need for regulatory intervention.

Informational power by search engines should be analyzed from different perspectives. On the one hand, unlimited access to personal data can be in conflict with the interests of individuals whose data can be accessed. These interests are part of a right to privacy, including a "right to be forgotten," which, however, must be balanced against the public interest in disclosure of information. "Regulating" these conflicting interests is a difficult task – a task that lies with the search engines.

On the other hand, firms and individuals may have an interest in their information to be found, in particular (but not only) for commercial purposes. Suppressing or "downgrading" this information as displayed to users may significantly reduce visibility. In light of these interests, it has been proposed to oblige search engines to implement "search neutrality"; i.e., that they have to present search results in an unbiased way. In this article, we take a clear position against ex-ante regulation. Instead, competition law provides a sufficient framework, to protect against the abuse of "informational" market power. We sketch a new approach that may allow competition law to be applied more quickly in dynamic markets such as internet search markets.

Peitz, Martin and Heike Schweitzer (2016), Suchmaschinen unter der Lupe: Informationsherrschaft und ihre Schranken, ZEW Discussion Paper No. 16-069, Mannheim.