Google has introduced a label that identifies some South African businesses in organic search results.

The “ZA South African” marker, which TechCentral saw was applied to the search results for local e-commerce website Takealot.com, is part of Google’s efforts to comply with the Competition Commission’s remedial actions, outlined in the final report of its Online and Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry.

Other South African websites that have the label included in organic search results include:

lekkeslaap.co.za
sa-venues.com
safarinow.com
roomsforafrica.com
wheretostay.co.za
shotleft.co.za
sleepingout.co.za
travelstart.co.za
bobshop.co.za

“We are introducing new local filter optionality for South African travel and shopping platforms on our search page and dedicated local curation for apps published on the Play store by South African developers,” a Google spokesman said on Monday in response to questions from TechCentral.

According to the spokesman, the “ZA South African” marker is for “firms offering online intermediation platform services in travel and e-commerce that are headquartered in South Africa and owned or controlled by a South African citizen”.

The highlighting of South African businesses in Google’s search results and the Play store are two of a list of remediation actions stipulated by the Competition Commission in its July 2023 final report on the Online and Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry.

“Google Search is a de facto monopoly, accounting for over 90% of all general search across desktop, tablet and mobile devices. Given its importance for customer acquisition, visibility on Google Search is critical and impacts on discoverability and website traffic,” said the report.

It found that Google has strong incentives to engage in self-preferencing behaviour given that shopping, travel and local search are “among the most lucrative commercial search categories”. Its recommended remedial actions are aimed at improving the chances that smaller, local businesses will get clicks on search results, leading to improved sales.

“The remedial actions should provide greater visibility and opportunity for smaller South African platforms to acquire customers through Google Search, enabling growth and greater platform competition with larger, sometimes global, rivals,” said the report.

Remedial actions

Other remedial actions the commission recommended include:

Within 18 months, introducing a new carousel, allowing content-rich display for smaller South African platforms in travel and shopping, and in other intermediation categories within 24 months, along with augmentation of organic results with content-rich display;
Provide the following support programmes in South Africa to the value of R330-million over five years:
- R180-million in advertising credits for non-leading South African platforms, with a particular focus on small to medium enterprises and platforms owned by historically disadvantaged persons (HDPs);
- Providing free in-depth technical training to maximise the efficacy of ad campaigns and reduce the effective cost of customer acquisition through general search;
- Funding support for SMEs and HDP-owned digital platforms, including Google product credits, along with start-up training and networking; and
- Registering online profiles for 500 000 SMEs and HDP-owned businesses.

Google said it worked together with the Competition Commission to identify companies eligible for its “ZA South African marker” and platforms not yet identified that think they are eligible will be able to apply for the label “through a process that we will have available in the upcoming weeks”.

“Google is committed to making sure people have access to helpful and authoritative information. Doing this creates more choice and competition and generates millions of visits to South African sites and businesses across the web every day,” Google’s spokesman said. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media