Google avoids the EU fine: show results from three search engines - The Messenger

Google maxi-fine saves from EU: agreeing to give more space to his rivals in search results, has withdrawn its reservations antitrust European who has decided to go in a hurry towards the end of ‘open investigation for three years. Brussels Now explain to rival the giant of the web, which had been used, because they trust Google and its remedies, and because the game can be closed here. There will then be the new ‘market testing the concessions Google, and it is for this reason that, except for Mountain View, remain disappointed by competitors to consumers, publishers with online merchants. Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, who had already rejected two proposals for Google in the past three years of negotiation, today has no longer any doubt: the remedies presented are ‘convincing’, and the concessions made so far ‘significant’.

Almunia, who will soon write to the applicants by rejecting part of their demands, and then propose to the Commission to officially close the investigation, defends his decision to close the game with Google: “My mission is to protect the competition and benefit consumers, not competitors. ” Google, which owns 75% of the market of online searches, convinced the Commission through various concessions: the page of results (of products or businesses, or those advertised) will present at the top, most obvious in the box, as well as its results ‘privileged even those three rivals. It will present them in the same way: if you have your photos and videos, the other three will have photos and videos.

In the version ‘Mobile proportion will be different, there will be two out of Google results and one of rivals. The three contestants will be chosen with an auction, and Google will have to pay because that space ‘is preferred, however, for a fee. Also, remove the exclusivity clause that prevents today ‘advertiser’ to move on rival platforms like Yahoo or Bing. Finally, it will give content providers the ability to call out that Google makes use of their content (eg Wikipedia information shown already in good part on the search page) without being penalized. All remedies will obviously only value to the European Economic Area. If Google is “major concessions” for rival Fairsearch (the group of 17 players who had recourse to the EU including Microsoft, Oracle, Nokia, Expedia and TripAdvisor), the proposal is “worse than nothing” and remedies are “discriminatory and raise costs for rivals.”

It does not explain why Brussels has ordered a new round of market testing. “I could go on forever,” he says Almunia, who recalls how the Commission can not solve the problem of the dominant position of Google, which is a fact, but just make sure that there is no abuse. But even if this chapter closes, the eye of Brussels on Google will remain open: an independent body will ensure that Google applied its commitments, the Commission put forward and the other open investigation on Android, the Google operating system accused by competitors (always the same as Fairsearch) to be a trap to bring users to the products SuperG.