Google EU Concessions to Be Kept Under Wraps
November 12, 2013
The Register‘s indignation at being kept out of the loop is evident in their headline, “Google Rivals GAGGED from Exposing Ad Giant’s EU Search Peace Offering.” Apparently, Google’s European compromises are to be considered privileged information, at least while the European Commission’s three-years-and-counting antitrust investigation is still in progress.
Writer Kelly Fiveash tells us:
“How exactly Google will overhaul its web-search engine in Europe is unlikely to be aired in public: the European Commission’s competition officials have sent out copies of the advertising giant’s package of concessions to its rivals for comment – along with a requirement for them to agree to confidentiality clauses.
“Despite repeated questioning from The Register, antitrust commissioner Joaquin Almunia’s spokesman declined to tell us if details of the offer would be published. The package of promises details changes to Google’s web search operation in Europe following claims it unfairly favours its own services over competitors’ websites in search results.”
The representative did say that the commission is asking for feedback from complainants on Google’s proposals. As of the date of the statement, they also sought more “concrete technical elements” from Google. Fiveash concludes by noting that Google has captured about 90 percent of Europe’s search market. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Cynthia Murrell, November 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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