The European Commission is moving towards an amicable solution in the Google folder and hopes to end “spring” the investigation it opened there nearly three years against the Internet giant accused of anticompetitive practices. “In terms of research and online advertising, the Europeans want an unbiased choice and competition”, said Tuesday the European competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, invited to speak on the case of Google to the European Parliament. “They want everything now, and deserve to get it immediately if possible, not after years of litigation,” said he continued, showing, as it has done in the past, his preference for a negotiated solution. Last spring, the giant Internet suspicion of bias competition in the markets for research and online advertising, proposed remedies to the Commission which was submitted to the judgment of the plaintiffs, including Microsoft and its competitors. The EU executive hopes then to close the file after the summer. But these remedies were not considered sufficient, and Joaquin Almunia asked the boss of Google, Eric Schmidt, to review its copy. The California group then proposed new commitments, which constitute a “substantial improvement,” Joaquin Almunia held Tuesday, clearly opening the door to an agreement.
Survey “long and careful”
A responsible Google’s Kent Walker, responded in a statement pointing out that the Commission’s investigation had been “very long and very thorough.” “In a context of fierce competition online, we made the difficult decision to proceed with its requirements in order to reach an agreement,” he added. Google in particular is accused of putting forward its own services at the expense of other specialized search engines, such as restaurants or geolocation. New proposals would make links to these “much more visible” competing sites, and more space is devoted to their Google pages, with the opportunity to present their logo and information about their content, said Joaquin Almunia. Google’s new commitments will also further to end requirements deemed unfair by publishers and online advertisers.
The Google investigation was opened there will soon be three years in November 2010, following several complaints, one of which came from the internet portal Ciao belonging to Microsoft, which is itself attached to the complaint in 2011. Google, which controls about 70% of the online search in the United States and more than 90% in the European Economic Area, was cleared in early January by the U.S. obstructing justice in a case very similar to the competition instructed by the European Commission, with commitments of conduct. Joaquin Almunia noted that this survey was not only the Commission’s Google, as another is being about patents held by its subsidiary Motorola Mobility. The Commission has also not yet decided whether to open a formal investigation against Google concerning certain aspects of its Android operating system. The American group is also in the sights of several national regulators who accuse him of not respecting the confidentiality of data. This case is the most iconic of all competition cases handled by the European Commission. The public as stakeholders give him more attention than any other, “Joaquin Almunia said Tuesda! y.