Google is not a publisher

Metropolitan International Schools Ltd v Designtechnica Corporation and others [2009] EWHC 1765 (QB); TLR 3 August

The claimant brought defamation proceedings against the defendants in respect of defamatory comments which had been posted on the first defendant’s website. The third defendant, Google Inc, applied to set aside an order for service on it out of the jurisdiction on the grounds that it, as a search engine, had no responsibility for publication of the words complained of, so that the claimant had no reasonable prospect of success.