Google suspends ticket site Viagogo from paid-for global search results

Google has suspended Viagogo from its paid-for search results globally.

This decision marks a huge blow to the company's business model.

The search engine’s decision, - which said that it had found Viagogo in breach of its advertising policy - was welcomed by campaign groups throughout Ireland and in the UK.

Writing about the decision in the industry magazine Music Week, Phil Hutcheon, founder and CEO of mobile ticketing company Dice, said that this was "a good day day for music fans."

"Wednesday [July 17] was a good day for live music fans. Following pressure from the CMA, FanFair Alliance, UK Music, Claire Turnham MBE and many more, Google suspended Viagogo as an advertiser.

"Google relies on advertisers. Its parent company, Alphabet, generated $36.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019 – 84% of that came from Google’s ad business.

"To suspend a major advertiser is going to hit Google’s bottom line, but Google decided the reputational damage of continuing to support Viagogo was worth it.

"Before Wednesday if you’d typed in any major artist’s name plus ‘tickets’ into Google, it’s likely that right at the top of the search results would have been a very enticing ad for Viagogo."

VIAGOGO

Viagogo is a Swiss-based website for secondary ticket selling. It's listings have previously appeared at the top of Google searches when consumers look for tickets, even for gigs by artists who have condemned the website, such as Ed Sheeran.

Campaigners have argued that this has led buyers to purchase tickets from the site for inflated prices.

Speaking about the decision, a Google spokesperson said: “When people use our platform for help in purchasing tickets, we want to make sure that they have an experience they can trust. This is why we have strict policies and take necessary action when we find an advertiser in breach.”

Despite this, Viagogo responded saying: "We were extremely surprised to learn of Google's concerns today. We are confident that there has been no breach of Google's policies and look forward to working with them to resolve this as quickly as possible."

IDA IRELAND

VGL Support Services - which are partner services company and part of the Viagogo group - have their headquarters in Limerick and received support in setting up their offices in Ireland from the IDA.

Hot Press contacted the IDA about the recent decision by Google, but they declined to comment on "specific client activity".

An IDA Ireland spokesperson said: “IDA Ireland has no role in the operations of FDI companies in Ireland. IDA Ireland partners with multinational companies to win and develop foreign direct investment, providing jobs for the economic benefit of Ireland. IDA Ireland does not comment on specific client activity.”

When asked about if they could give details about the exact extent of IDA support given to Viagogo, IDA Ireland responded:

"I’m afraid not, grants paid to client companies are not disclosed as they are commercially sensitive and IDA Ireland does not comment on specific client activity."