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May 30, 2013

EU Regulators Demand More Concessions from Google to End Antitrust Investigation

By Ashok Bindra, TMCnet Contributor

For the last three years, the search engine giant Google (News - Alert) has been under investigation by the



European Union (EU) regulators for exploiting its dominant position in Europe. A study shows that Google’s search engine enjoys a market share of over 90 percent.

On Tuesday, EU’s antitrust chief demanded more concessions from Google in order to end this investigation. This demand by the EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia was made during the European parliament session in Brussels on Tuesday.

To keep the EU antitrust pressure on, last month more than a dozen firms, including Microsoft (News - Alert), accused the search engine giant of squeezing them out. As a result, Google made some changes to the Internet search results. For example, the company proposed to label its own products in the search engine results while making it easier for advertisers to move to rival platforms, reported international multimedia news agency Reuters (News - Alert).

Responding to the pressure from the EU Commission, Google spokesman Al Verney said that the company would continue to work with the EU Commission to settle the case as soon as possible. The report indicates that the settlement would mean no infringement finding or a fine.

The search engine results are not the only area of concern for EU regulators. Similar antitrust violations are also being observed in the mobile market where Google has dominance. According to technology market consultancy Canalys, Google Android (News - Alert)-powered devices have a 60-percent share of the global smartphone market versus Apple's 19 percent.

Media reports indicate that last month, a group of companies including Microsoft and Nokia (News - Alert) filed a complaint with the EU Commission that Google is blocking competition in mobile telephony. As a result, the EU Commission is also looking into this complaint. However, Almunia said that the Commission has not made a decision yet whether or not to open a formal investigation.




Edited by Alisen Downey
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