Ryanair accuses Google of profiting from ‘misleading’ adverts at the expense of customers

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, said Google sometimes “gets it wrong”.

Ryanair has launched legal action in the Irish Court in December against Google and travel website eDreams (PA)

Ryanair has thrown new accusations against Google, this time saying that the search engine is making profits from adverts and paid-for search results that are "misleading" customers.

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, said today that Google has become an essential tool for customers but that it sometimes “gets it wrong”.

“Ryanair has no issue with Google lawfully selling advertising, but some advertising, much like my leaves a bitter taste in the mouth,” Jacobs wrote on the Guardian.

“If Google wants to deliver on its own promise to give consumers the best search results, it needs to get back to where it started and give consumers more reliable search results,” he added.

Jacobs called on small businesses in the UK and Europe to stand up to Google as the search engine is their biggest advertising output.

It’s not the first time that the budget airline has fought with third parties over what it considers misleading claims.

Ryanair has launched legal action in the Irish Court in December against Google and travel website eDreams over claims that consumers are being misled into mistakenly believing they are booking flights direct with the airline.

"Following Google’s refusal to stop these false advertising practices (which are in breach of Google’s own code of conduct), Ryanair has been left with no alternative than to take legal proceedings against both eDreams and Google," Ryanair said in a statement in December.

EDreams said the company is keen to ensure that there is never any "potential confusion for customers".

“At eDreams, we provide customers with a range of choices so that they can find the best value flights at the most convenient time, without having to travel with the same airline there and back. We use cutting edge tools to search millions of flight combinations in a matter of seconds - close to half of our customers book a combination of flights which cannot be booked on any single airline website.”

“There is no intention to imitate the appearance of specific airlines, as eDreams clearly indicates to its customers that they are on one of its own websites, rather than that of any airline. The wording on the page clearly states “Book Ryanair flights on eDreams.”

“A small minority of airlines are trying but failing to stand in the way of consumers increasingly using comparison sites like ours, to get the best deal and the most convenient combination of flights," a spokesmen for eDreams said in a statement to the Independent.

The Independent has reached out to Google for comment on Ryanair’s latest call.