Despite what you may have read elsewhere, Google and the European Commission aren't nearing a resolution on the antitrust investigation launched in the European Union in November, and Google isn't likely to change its algorithm there any time soon.
"There are no discussions. As is known, the commission is conducting an in-depth market investigation. The investigation is not finished," said Amelia Torres, spokeswoman for competition issues at the commission, in a Wall Street Journal report.
This all stems from a story published in The Sunday Telegraph in which the reporter (not lame duck CEO Eric Schmidt) said "Google could be willing to change some of its algorithm methodology in search." What followed was a slew of regurgitated stories that Google was ready to change its algorithm.
Without reading carefully, many assumed Schmidt was being paraphrased. But it seems the author was just rambling on about a topic he didn't fully understand.
Adding to that, Reuters then pushed out a story in which an anonymous source said there are "tentative discussions ... but no really concrete proposals on the table." This is nothing entirely new for Reuters, which has pushed out its fair share of junk speculation stories based on anonymous sources.
As we all know, Google will do what it wants to do or is forced to do in the EU. It all depends on the results of this investigation, which consists of sending out questionnaires to advertisers and businesses -- a process which will take several more months.
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