The Telegraph reports on EU investigation into Google. The US FTC cleared Google of any wrongdoing, but the EU seems set to take a firmer stance when it concludes its investigation into how Google runs its search results and how they are affected by Google promoting their own products.
The Telegraph states that the European Union’s competition chief, Joaquin Almunia, said it is his “conviction” that Google is unfairly promoting links to its own services above those of third party companies, and that he fears it is abusing its dominant position.
Google has been locked in a long-running row over whether it has changed its search results to give preferential treatment to links to its own services, at the expense of those from competitors.
Last week US regulators gave Google the all-clear, but Mr Almunia, who is heading up a Brussels’ investigation into the matter, made it clear that he will take the opposite stance.
“We are still investigating, but my conviction is [Google is] diverting traffic,” he told the Financial Times.
“They are monetising this kind of business, the strong position they have in the general search market…This is not only a dominant position, I think – I fear – there is an abuse of this dominant position.”
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Mr Almunia stressed that he was more concerned with the way that Google presents its results, rather than the complex codes at their heart. This distinction has sparked speculation that Google could be forced to clearly mark links to its own services, where it is found to have manipulated the search results to push them up the search rankings.
Google chairman Eric Schmidt met with Mr Almunia shortly before Christmas to discuss possible ways in which the search engine could resolve the issue. Mr Almunia gave Google a month to come up with detailed proposals about potential concessions.
By contrast, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hailed Google as “one of America’s Great Companies,” when it cleared the search giant of any wrongdoing last week. Although Google was changing the complex codes it was doing to so to improve the quality of results rather than to eliminate the competition, the FTC ruled.
Google’s rivals reacted angrily to the FTC judgment. Microsoft branded it “weak” and “unusual” and called on Brussels to take a firmer stance.
A Google spokesman said: “We continue to cooperate with the European Union.”
via Brussels ‘to force Google to change way it presents results’ – Telegraph.
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The Telegraph reports on EU investigation into Google. The US FTC cleared Google of any wrongdoing, but the EU seems set to take a firmer stance when it concludes its investigation into how Google runs its search results and how they are affected by Google promoting their own products.
The Telegraph states that the European Union’s competition chief, Joaquin Almunia, said it is his “conviction” that Google is unfairly promoting links to its own services above those of third party companies, and that he fears it is abusing its dominant position.
Google has been locked in a long-running row over whether it has changed its search results to give preferential treatment to links to its own services, at the expense of those from competitors.
Last week US regulators gave Google the all-clear, but Mr Almunia, who is heading up a Brussels’ investigation into the matter, made it clear that he will take the opposite stance.
“We are still investigating, but my conviction is [Google is] diverting traffic,” he told the Financial Times.
“They are monetising this kind of business, the strong position they have in the general search market…This is not only a dominant position, I think – I fear – there is an abuse of this dominant position.”
Related Articles
Microsoft blasts ‘weak’ Google verdict 04 Jan 2013
Google ‘search results are fair’ 03 Jan 2013
Goliath vs Goliath…Amazon takes on Apple and Google 30 Dec 2012
Brussels orders Google to explain what it’s doing with user data 16 Oct 2012
‘We are not the bogeyman,’ Google tells MPs 18 Dec 2012
Google’s tax avoidance is called ‘capitalism’ 12 Dec 2012
Mr Almunia stressed that he was more concerned with the way that Google presents its results, rather than the complex codes at their heart. This distinction has sparked speculation that Google could be forced to clearly mark links to its own services, where it is found to have manipulated the search results to push them up the search rankings.
Google chairman Eric Schmidt met with Mr Almunia shortly before Christmas to discuss possible ways in which the search engine could resolve the issue. Mr Almunia gave Google a month to come up with detailed proposals about potential concessions.
By contrast, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hailed Google as “one of America’s Great Companies,” when it cleared the search giant of any wrongdoing last week. Although Google was changing the complex codes it was doing to so to improve the quality of results rather than to eliminate the competition, the FTC ruled.
Google’s rivals reacted angrily to the FTC judgment. Microsoft branded it “weak” and “unusual” and called on Brussels to take a firmer stance.
A Google spokesman said: “We continue to cooperate with the European Union.”
via Brussels ‘to force Google to change way it presents results’ – Telegraph.
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Posted by DigitalLawUK on January 11, 2013 in Comment, News Update and tagged anti trust, competition, data, data protection, EU, EU regulation, European union, Google, promotion, tech, technology.
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