The European Commission today offered up several ways for Google to avoid antitrust action, but it does not appear that the search giant is willing to make the commission's suggested changes just yet.
Joaquín Almunia, vice president of the European Commission responsible for Competition Policy, asked that Google change the way it displays its search results and alter the agreements it has with advertisers, among other things.
"If Google comes up with an outline of remedies which are capable of addressing our concerns, I will instruct my staff to initiate the discussions in order to finalize a remedies package," Almunia said in a statement today. "This would allow to [Google] solve our concerns by means of a commitment decision ... instead of having to pursue formal proceedings with a Statement of objections and to adopt a decision imposing fines and remedies."
In a statement, Google said it had only just started to review the commission's arguments. "We disagree with the conclusions but we're happy to discuss any concerns they might have," the search giant said. "Competition on the Web has increased dramatically in the last two years since the Commission started looking at this and the competitive pressures Google faces are tremendous. Innovation online has never been greater."
The case dates back to November 2010, when the commission announced that it opened an antitrust investigation into Google over allegations that the company had abused its dominant position in online search.
Since then, the EU has "conducted a large-scale market investigation," Almunia said today. Google has said repeatedly that it's willing to discuss the issues at hand in order to avoid "adversarial proceedings," he said. "This is why I am today giving Google an opportunity to offer remedies to address the concerns we have already identified."
Almunia identified four areas of concern that the EU would like to see it alter.
- Linking to Google-Owned Sites: "In its general search results, Google displays links to its own vertical search services differently than it does for links to competitors," the EU said. "We are concerned that this may result in preferential treatment compared to those of competing services, which may be hurt as a consequence."
- Stealing Rival Content: The EU said Google copies rival content and uses it in its own products. The commission pointed to travel sites and restaurant guides. "We are worried that this could reduce competitors' incentives to invest in the creation of original content for the benefit of internet users," the EU said.
- Search Ad Exclusivity: Agreements for search ads, or those that show up next to search results, "result in de facto exclusivity requiring them to obtain all or most of their requirements of search advertisements from Google, thus shutting out competing providers of search advertising intermediation services," according to the EU.
- AdWords Restrictions: The EU said it is concerned that "Google imposes contractual restrictions on software developers which prevent them from offering tools that allow the seamless transfer of search advertising campaigns across AdWords and other platforms for search advertising."
Almunia said he sent a copy of his concerns to Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, and asked the company to offer up a solution "in a matter of weeks."
Google is facing a similar inquiry in the U.S. at the Federal Trade Commission, as well as in South Korea and Argentina. In September, Schmidt appeared on Capitol Hill and defended his company's search practices.
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