Yelp executive accuses Google of doing 'a lot to harm consumers and small businesses'

Luther Lowe predicts antitrust case will help 'create a lot of new opportunities for startups'

As the DOJ pushes forward with an antitrust case against Google, Yelp Public Policy Senior Vice President Luther Lowe told Fox Business Network Thursday that he too has been impacted by Google’s operations and hopes the case will bring relief to consumers.

“Google has done a lot to harm consumers and small businesses,” Lowe told “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.”

Lowe claimed that Google populates local searches with low-quality results, which could cause real harm. He cited the example of a mother searching for a pediatrician.

US JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S GOOGLE LAWSUIT EXPECTED IN WEEKS AHEAD

“Instead of being matched with the best information from across the web, Google is siphoning her to an objectively lower-quality product -- their house product,” he said. “And in antitrust, you can show that prices have gone up, but you can also show that quality has gone down.”

Lowe added that he “would not be surprised” if the case against Google turned out to be as "seismic" as the U.S. vs. Microsoft case of the 1990s and early 2000s.

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“I actually expect that to do a lot to oxygenate the markets and create a lot of new opportunities for startups and technologists," he said. "And, of course, make life better for the consumers and businesses that suffer by Google."