Battle for Search: Jobindex vs Google for Jobs

Google for Jobs is a job search service offered by Google, which kicked off in the US in 2017. By 2018, it had invaded the EU market and then waltzed into universal search results in 2019. Unsurprisingly, the launch of Google for Jobs whipped up a storm of interest, fear, and excitement in the employment and talent communities—because who doesn’t love a little drama with their job hunt?

Last week, the latest episode of this ongoing saga played out in a Danish trade court. The court acquitted Alphabet, Google’s parent company, in a lawsuit filed by Denmark’s largest job search portal, Jobindex, and the Danish Media Association, Danske Medier.

Christina Blaagaard, chairperson of Danske Medier, didn’t hold back her disappointment, stating, “We find it highly unsatisfactory that, according to the court, Google has no responsibility for a specialized job service such as Google for Jobs. We will analyze the verdict and assess its consequences.”

TLDR: We’re not happy, and this isn’t over.

In August 2023, a lawsuit was filed in the Maritime and Commercial Court in Copenhagen, accusing Google for Jobs of playing dirty by posting job ads from Jobindex without permission violating copyright and marketing laws. Basically, Jobindex’s ads ended up in Google for Jobs search results due to Jobindex’s content partnerships and third-party aggregation. From there it was put into the Google Jobs Schema where Google ultimately received the content from those sites and not directly from Jobindex.

Alexander Chukovski,  author, Founder of Crypto Careers, and SEO expert, threw his two cents in on LinkedIn this week, arguing that the lawsuit lacked basic logical foundations—a view many are nodding along to, including us here at Job Board Doctor. (If you aren’t following Alex yet, go over and hit the follow button on LinkedIn.)

Jobindex loses, and Google wins: Seems pretty straightforward, right?

Well, not so fast. The launch of Google for Jobs had a significant and almost immediate impact on the revenue of major European job search portals. Jobindex’s revenue tanked by nearly 20% following the launch, and Axel Springer’s Stepstone saw traffic nosedive, with optimized competitors taking over top search results almost overnight. Ouch.

In 2019, after the launch of Google for Jobs in Europe, twenty-three online job search websites threw up their hands, complaining of losing market share. They accused Google of using its search muscle to steer job seekers to its shiny new service. In June 2022, Jobindex filed an antitrust complaint against Google, claiming that the search giant unfairly favored Google for Jobs. Jobindex, one of the original 23 critics, argued that Google had turned the Danish job market into its own personal playground through anti-competitive practices.

Is this a win or a loss for the rest of us?

As usual, it’s not black and white. On the upside, Chukovski added, “On a serious note, this is good news for all job boards. It means we will still get free traffic from Google, and Google for Jobs will likely stick around for a few more years.” Free traffic? That’s music to anyone’s ears.

But let’s be real—will Google’s use of its market power to pick the winners and losers in job search actually support long-term growth in the jobs industry? Or is it just another example of the tech giant flexing its muscles to boost its bottom line?

The question remains: Why has Google been held accountable for antitrust issues in other areas, but not in job search? What makes the difference?

The Job Board Doctor has had plenty to say about Google for Jobs over the past few years. You can dig into our historical posts for more juicy details. Read them all here.

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