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Switzerland investigates alleged agreements to restrict keyword bidding on Google and Bing

Tuesday 05 de May 2026 / 12:00

⏱ 1 min read

(Zurich).- Switzerland's competition commission has opened an investigation into suspected anti-competitive pacts in which travel companies and online casinos agreed not to bid against each other for search ‌engine keywords.

Switzerland investigates alleged agreements to restrict keyword bidding on Google and Bing

The probe focuses on alleged agreements among the companies to avoid bidding on rivals' trade-marked terms in keyword auctions run by search engines such as Alphabet's Google and Microsoft's Bing and others.

Keyword bidding allows firms to pay search engines to ensure ⁠their links appear more prominently in search results, boosting the visibility of their products or services.

The commission, known as ComCo, began investigating after companies contacted the watchdog to say firms in the travel industry and online casinos had refrained from bidding on keywords related to their competitors' trade marks.

ComCo said such conduct could be an unlawful agreement to restrict competition and put consumers at a disadvantage, for ‌example ⁠by making it more difficult to compare providers.

The first investigation is targeting three companies that offer package holidays in Switzerland, while a second concerns nearly all online casinos that operate in the country.

ComCo declined to name the ⁠companies involved and said the investigation could last one to two years.

Google, Bing and other search engines are not part of the investigation, but will ⁠be questioned as part of the inquiry, ComCo director Patrik Ducrey said on Thursday.

"We will be speaking with all the search ⁠engines to see if they have been affected," Ducrey said, adding it was too early to say how much money was involved in the alleged agreements.

Categoría:Others

Tags: Sin tags

País: Switzerland

Región: EMEA