I'm unsure whether it would be ruled libel, but I lean towards yes it would. There are two ways of seeing it:
1) It is a false statement by google themselves (so no ยง230 protection) that caused material damage and is thus libelous
2) It is an opinion protected under free speech, and the free behavior of a private company, and the words like "may have" show it is not a statement of fact, and "deceptive" is just an opinion.
Yet it feels very wrong and definately Google's fault, and Google should be responsible for the damages, morally speaking.
It's more than just a false statement, the pop-up is keeping users from visiting the website. However, Google doesn't intend to harm these companies in order to gain competitive advantage, it just harms them accidently, so the monopoly argument also has problems.
It seems to me that we need a new law, or that current jurisprudence has let this one slip through and perhaps there will (in America) never be a proper crime for this situation due to divergent jurisprudence in this space that left open this gap.
I would like to know whether it has been tested in court, or if anyone is in process of doing so.
1) It is a false statement by google themselves (so no ยง230 protection) that caused material damage and is thus libelous 2) It is an opinion protected under free speech, and the free behavior of a private company, and the words like "may have" show it is not a statement of fact, and "deceptive" is just an opinion.
Yet it feels very wrong and definately Google's fault, and Google should be responsible for the damages, morally speaking.
It's more than just a false statement, the pop-up is keeping users from visiting the website. However, Google doesn't intend to harm these companies in order to gain competitive advantage, it just harms them accidently, so the monopoly argument also has problems.
It seems to me that we need a new law, or that current jurisprudence has let this one slip through and perhaps there will (in America) never be a proper crime for this situation due to divergent jurisprudence in this space that left open this gap.
I would like to know whether it has been tested in court, or if anyone is in process of doing so.