Getty Images have recently been added to the European Commission's complaint against Google for fraudulent and misleading image search result on their website.

According to The Guardian, the embattled search engine Google is being accused of warping search result in favor of them rather than providing search result directly from Getty Images or its counterparts. The anti-trust complaint filed by Getty Images is said to affect the scope of EU's investigation, possibly expanding its jurisdiction to get to the bottom of the complaint, said reports.

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The said manipulation of search results has heavily contributed in building traffic to Google's own stats, leaving competitors on the downside of the play. The photos and images were also copies of those that came from its original creators, thus giving its clients a copied image instead of directly linking them to the websites that provides the original images.

Getty images are now considered as an "interested third party" in the complaints against the giant search engine.

According to Reuters, Getty's dilemma with Google started in 2013, and has escalated since then. In a post written on Getty's website, it said, "Web search results that link directly to the Getty Images website are placed low in the search results, frequently and remarkably, not on the first page of the results. This means, Google is benefiting from the use of Getty Images content, used to generate results within Google Image search, without sending the image searchers to the Getty Images website or other competing image search engine."

Google has not yet issued any statement regarding the complaints; however, Getty Images with its status being granted as an "interested third party" has now the liberty of getting access to information regarding the summary of complaints filed against the giant search engine.

If found guilty, Google may be slapped with a fine not less than "10 percent of its revenues" or equivalent to 6.6 billion US dollars.

Joining Getty Images are the other 19 complainants that have filed their grievances at the European Commission, also getting access to information regarding complaints against Google.

TagsGetty Images, google complaints, controversies, image search, Fraud, google fraud