Europe’s competition chief warns Google over antitrust case
The European Union’s (EU) competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia has warned Google it may have to make additional concessions to those already proposed as part of the ongoing antitrust investigation in to its dominance of the EU search market.
Speaking yesterday (28 May), at the European Parliament he said the Commission was still reviewing feedback on proposed concessions made by Google to ward-off charges that it unfairly favoured its own services in its search results.
However, when fielding a question on the progress of the review, he said: “We will ask Google, probably, I cannot anticipate this formally, but almost 100 per cent, we will ask Google: you should improve your proposals.”
The competition chief did add that he would continue to have an ongoing dialogue with the web services giant to reach a consensus.
The European Competition Commission has given concerned parties until the end of June to formally respond to the proposed antitrust concessions offered by Google.
These proposals include more clearly labelling its own products in its search results and imposing fewer restrictions on advertisers that choose to do businesses with competing service providers.
If Google’s concessions are accepted by the Commission, it will avoid a fine of up to $5bn (£3.2bn) plus the scrutiny of a third party to ensure it complies with any alternative practices prescribed by competition authorities.
However, Google’s detractors – most notably Microsoft and Windows Phone manufacturer Nokia – have slammed them as inadequate and harmful to competition, claiming they fall short of the Commission’s requirements.