The American group is accused of promoting its products in the results of its search engine.
Google is asked to back to the drawing. Monday, Joaquín Almunia, EU competition commissioner and vice-president of the European Commission referred the agreement of the search engine, which was to settle a dispute about its anticompetitive practices. This conflict between Google and the European Commission for nearly four years. “Some complainants have uncovered new evidence to be considered,” Joaquín Almunia was justified in with Bloomberg TV.
This interview is a turnaround. Earlier this year, the Commissioner had nevertheless optimistic about a quick resolution of the conflict. He even described as “adequate” the latest proposal from Google. He however declined to face strong criticism from competitors search engine as elected officials, including Germany and France, which accused him of being too weak against the American giant. Joaquín Almunia will therefore not able to overcome this thorny issue: he must leave his post as commissioner in November, leaving the task to his successor to deal
This case goes to. heart of the activities of Google: its search results. They accuse the American site will favor its own sites and products to the detriment of its competitors. For example, when a user searches on Google to buy a barbecue, the American site offers his own price comparison – Google Shopping – primarily, the others being relegated to the bottom or on the following pages. Similarly, a search for a piece of music will return the user to YouTube, owned by Google, rather than on Dailymotion, the French platform online video.
The problem is not new, but Google is slow to find solutions. The search engine has already proposed three agreements, all sent by the European Commission. The latter provided that the search engine gives more room for the competition with an auction system. For opponents of Google, it’s mostly a way to get rich on their backs and the Internet. “Google gives with one hand and takes with the other,” said Olivier Sichel, co-founder of the Open Internet Project, an advocacy group of neutrality on the Internet who filed a complaint in Brussels against Google for abuse of dominant position, and CEO of price comparison website LeGuide.com. “We call a non-discriminating display based on merit.” For its part, Google says it will continue to work with the European Commission “to address these problems.”
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