Case Against Google Rejected

US Federal Court rejected a law case declaring that Google Inc. abused its position as the Internet's leading search engine by wrongfully lowering dozens of Web site rankings in its index. In a March 16 decision, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel concluded there were insufficient reasons for the case brought by Kinderstart.com to go on. He also required Kinderstart and its lawyer to pay a part of Google's legal costs.

Kinderstart, a Norwalk-based Web site devoted to information about children, took legal action against Google last year after suffering a huge drop in Internet traffic. The statement blamed the slow down on an abrupt decision by Google to lower Kinderstart's position in its search index. They claimed this modification was made for no good reason and infringed on Kinderstart's freedom of speech in it's statement. Kinderstart also put forth that a large number of other Web sites had been similarly mistreated.

Mountain View-based Google has long argued that its search positions are a matter of opinion protected by the First Amendment, something that has been reinforced by the courts.