Google accused of being a ‘bully’ in web search and online advertising space

Well, no doubt Google has dominated the web search field with Chrome, while its competitor like the Opera and Vivaldi browsers have more or less been downtrodden in the space.

At least, the Co-founder and CEO of Vivaldi, Jon von Tetzchner thinks so. In his latest official blog, the creator of Opera and Vivaldi slams Google for being a "bully" and he has also said that the company is "misusing" its power in the internet world.

"A monopoly both in search and advertising, Google, unfortunately, shows that they are not able to resist the misuse of power. I am saddened by this makeover of a geeky, positive company into the bully they are in 2017," he wrote.
Why is he throwing arrows at Google? Tetzchner alleges that Google recently blocked Vivaldi's access to AdWords- Google's online advertising platform-and that cost his company a major loss.

Google is the biggest online advertising company in the world, and with such standards, the company is often the first choice for businesses that want to promote their products or services on the Internet. So if digital companies were to be blocked from using Google AdWords it could be a major problem.

"Recently, our Google AdWords campaigns were suspended without warning. This was the second time that I have encountered this situation," he explains. "We are making the Vivaldi browser. It is based on Chromium, an open-source project, led by Google and built on WebKit and KHTML. Using Google's services should not call for any issues, but sadly, the reality is different. We still have to hide our identity when visiting services such as Google Docs."

Tetzchner further reckons that Google's block could also have been a response to his criticism of the search giant in a recent media interview. Just two days ago Tetzchner had done interviews and his thoughts were published in a Wired article. He had basically questioned Google's and Facebook's business practices in terms of how they collect and aggregate customer data for targeted ad practices.

And coming back to the block, Tetzchner wrote, "Was this just a coincidence? Or was it deliberate, a way of sending us a message?"

However, after encountering the blockade, Vivaldi approached Google with the issue but only to be responded with "clarifications masqueraded in the form of vague terms and conditions." Moreover, in terms of those terms and conditions, Google also admitted themselves, that it was not a 'hard' requirement".

Tetzchner explained in the blog that it was only after almost three months of back-and-forth, the suspension of the account was lifted. It was also lifted only because "we bent to their requirements," he said.

Meanwhile, Google is yet to respond to these allegations.