Google announced today that secondary ticketing company Viagogo has been suspended globally as an advertiser with immediate effect, meaning it will no longer be able to pay for higher search rankings.
This follows the CMA’s announcement, less than a fortnight ago, that it would be pursuing legal action to find Viagogo in contempt of court, after the site repeatedly failed to overhaul the way it presents information. The UK’s FanFair Alliance, Spain’s Association of Music Promoters and French live music association PRODISS have been involved with discussions with Google on the issue for several years, and last year UK MPs, The Football Association, UK Music and others signed a letter to senior Google executives advising them to ban Viagogo’s advertisements.
Google’s suspension of Viagogo as an advertiser is a major step forward in preventing consumers buying tickets from suspicious resellers. It follows an update to Google’s Adword policy last year, which required that in order to be certified with Google, ticket resale websites must clearly inform fans they are a secondary marketplace, declare when prices that are higher than face value and make all fees associated with the purchase clear.
Google’s move to protect consumers is encouraging. The tech giant confirmed: “When people use our platform for help in purchasing tickets, we want to make sure that they have an experience they can trust.”
FEAT Director Sam Shemtob commented: “This is a hugely significant step — Google is the first port of call for fans searching for gig tickets across the world.
“The move appears to have been triggered by recent court proceedings led by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority as well as pressure from the UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee.
“It’s worth noting the work of the UK’s FanFair Alliance, Spain’s Association of Music Promoters and French live music industry association PRODISS, who have been engaged in multiple conversations on the issue with Google, some of which date back to 2016.
“We hope other search engines and social media platforms will follow suit.”