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86. In fact, it would not be out of place to equate data in this century to what oil was to the last one. The Commission is not oblivious of the increasing value of data for firms which can be used to target advertising better. Moreover, the data can be turned into any number of revenue generating artificial-intelligence (AI) based innovations.

87. The Commission notes that while the aforesaid data is collected from the search side of the market, on the other side also some crucial events happen once an SERP is displayed. The search user by clicking on the results displayed reveals her choice and preferences and the most important aspect to be noted is the link on which the search user clicks. If the search user clicks on an organic result then the search engine lands the user in the appropriate webpage and the platform correspondingly does not receive any monetary payment for its services from the advertisement side. But on the contrary, if the search user clicks on the advertisements displayed then the search engine lands the user on the advertisers/ business firms/ merchants website and correspondingly the search engine receives a payment according to the bid price consummated in the adspace auction for its advertisement services which depends on the pricing mechanism that is pay per click. The revenue earned by search platforms' through provision of search based adservices bears testimony to not only to the potential of adservices offered by them but also negates the view that search services offered by such platforms are free. In view of the above, the Commission disagrees with the contention raised by Google that in case of online search there is no purchase or sale of goods or services and consequently holds that online search falls within the ambit of Section 4 PUBLIC VERSION of the Act.