IndustryGoogle EU Antitrust Concessions Called ‘Insufficient’

Google EU Antitrust Concessions Called 'Insufficient'

Although it was widely thought that Google's three-year long antitrust review in relation to the firm blocking its rivals in search results was coming to an end, it seems not. EU regulators say Google must offer more and improved concessions.

google-eu-antitrustIt seems Google’s three-year long antitrust review in relation to the firm blocking its rivals in search results isn’t quite over yet.

As expected, European Union regulators are demanding that Google improve its antitrust concession offer, calling the firm’s recent proposal “insufficient.”

European Union chief antitrust regulator Joaquín Almunia said Wednesday that Google must offer more and improved concessions, seemingly not happy with the firm’s original offer that it proposed back in April.

This seems to suggest that Google’s rivals weren’t happy with the offer either, as they were asked to offer feedback on Google’s proposal.

Google had proposed to display links to three rival services, clearly separate promoted links from search results and allow websites to opt-out from the use of their content on its search services.

“After an analysis of the market test that was concluded on June 27, I concluded that the proposals that Google sent to us are not enough to overcome our concerns,” Almunia said. “In this sense, I wrote a letter to Google, to Mr Schmidt (Google’s executive chairman), asking Google to present better proposals, to improve its proposal.”

If Google decides to put forward an improved offer and this doesn’t impress either, it’s likely that the firm would face a fine, which could be up to 10 percent of the firm’s global turnover.

“Our proposal to the European Commission clearly addresses their four areas of concern,” said a Google spokesperson. “We continue to work with the Commission to settle this case.”

This article was originally published on the Inquirer.

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