Google Inc.’s share price down, starts removing search results under EU court’s “right to be forgotten”

Mr. Al Verney, who is a spokesman of the biggest search provider in the world – Google Inc. – announced that the company has started removing some content in the European Union after it was forced by an EU court to respond to customers requests, who are seeking the “right to be forgotten” in case the search results may affect their privacy or personal lives.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Al Verney said in Brussels: “ This week were starting to take action on the removals requests that we’ve received”. He also added: “This is a new process for us. Each request has to be assessed individually and we’re working as quickly as possible to get through the queue.”

It became clear that the companys engineers updated the technical infrastructure of the company overnight in order to start making the removals. The first e-mail to customers to inform them about the removal of the links they had requested is scheduled for Thursday.

According to the statement of Googles spokesman, only a small fraction of the 41 000 requests that were received have been processed to date. The company prefers to consider each of the requests carefully and intents to take its time until it is confident that its systems are working properly.

As of today, the result page that would be displayed in case a name on Google is removed includes the following statement: “Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe.”

The announcement comes at a time when the company is embarked on a mission of making its Android mobile software ubiquitous. The company revealed an updated version of its Android software for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, but also demonstrated it in use in cars, smartwatches and even in a new television service. This would provide Google with the opportunity to expand its reach and consolidate its positions on the market and the everyday life of its users.

Google Inc. was 0.9% down to trade at 580.66 dollars per share in New York, marking a one-year change of +32.80. According to the information published on CNN Money, the 40 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Google Inc. have a median target of 658.50, with a high estimate of 750.00 and a low estimate of 525.00. The median estimate represents a +13.80% increase from the last price of 578.65.