Google under stress to resolve charges
Source: Agencies |
May 22, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE European Union's antitrust chief yesterday piled up the pressure on Google, giving it weeks to settle an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive behavior and avoid formal charges and a possible fine.
Even if the world's most popular search engine offers concessions to resolve the issue, it will still be under the EU spotlight following fresh complaints over its Android mobile software, the top operating system for Internet-enabled smartphones.
The European Commission launched an investigation into Google in November 2010 after competitors, including Microsoft, accused the company of manipulating search results and promoting its own advertising services while demoting rivals'.
EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said regulators were as keen as Google to avoid lengthy proceedings due to rapid developments in the technology industry and that if remedies were offered by Google within the coming weeks, the antitrust investigation could be brought to a close.
"I believe that these fast-moving markets would particularly benefit from a quick resolution of the competition issues identified. Restoring competition swiftly to the benefit of users at an early stage is always better than lengthy proceedings," Almunia said.
"Google has repeatedly expressed to me its willingness to discuss any concerns that the commission might have without having to engage in adversarial proceedings, this is why today I'm giving Google an opportunity to offer remedies to address concerns that we have identified," he said.
Almunia said he had sent a letter to Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, with a deadline for a response.
"In this letter, I offer Google the possibility to come up in a matter of weeks with first proposals of remedies to address each of these points," he said.
Google said it disagreed with the commission's conclusions but that it was happy to discuss the issues further. It controls 86 percent of the European search market, said online data tracking service comScore.
Even if the world's most popular search engine offers concessions to resolve the issue, it will still be under the EU spotlight following fresh complaints over its Android mobile software, the top operating system for Internet-enabled smartphones.
The European Commission launched an investigation into Google in November 2010 after competitors, including Microsoft, accused the company of manipulating search results and promoting its own advertising services while demoting rivals'.
EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said regulators were as keen as Google to avoid lengthy proceedings due to rapid developments in the technology industry and that if remedies were offered by Google within the coming weeks, the antitrust investigation could be brought to a close.
"I believe that these fast-moving markets would particularly benefit from a quick resolution of the competition issues identified. Restoring competition swiftly to the benefit of users at an early stage is always better than lengthy proceedings," Almunia said.
"Google has repeatedly expressed to me its willingness to discuss any concerns that the commission might have without having to engage in adversarial proceedings, this is why today I'm giving Google an opportunity to offer remedies to address concerns that we have identified," he said.
Almunia said he had sent a letter to Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, with a deadline for a response.
"In this letter, I offer Google the possibility to come up in a matter of weeks with first proposals of remedies to address each of these points," he said.
Google said it disagreed with the commission's conclusions but that it was happy to discuss the issues further. It controls 86 percent of the European search market, said online data tracking service comScore.
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