It was foreseen for several days, it is now confirmed: the European Commission has sent two new statements of objections against Google and Alphabet, its parent company.
a Statement of objections is a formal document, formal in which, after an investigation by the Brussels institution, celle- shall inform in writing the company blacklisting, she reproaches her address. “ The company can then review the documents on file, reply in writing and request a hearing to submit its comments on the case to representatives of the Commission and national competition authorities “explains the Commission. This step does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation, but allows the third party to govern in accordance with the rights of defense.
An incomparable comparator
But what is the subject of this wrath? After a first round in April 2015, the Commission has found new signs that Google “ has abused its dominant position by systematically promoting its own price comparison service in its pages of general search results “. Once again, it is alleged the company to promote its price comparison service to the detriment of those of competitors. A measure of support that would play to “ the impact of the place occupied by the Google search results page on its website traffic ” and “ changing traffic to the service price comparison Google over its competitors . “
on this, the Commission is concerned indeed” that users do not necessarily see the most relevant results in response to their requests, which harms consumers and hinders innovation . ” It also considers that “ Google’s behavior has weakened or marginalized, competition from his closest competitors .”
The AdSense business
In another communication, it is this time that AdSense is sticky. This is particularly “ the restrictions imposed by the company in the capacity of certain third party websites displaying contextual advertisements from its competitors .” Again the one who has the slogan “do not be evil” is criticized for being anything but an angel of competition:
“ Google places contextual ads directly on the Google search site, but also, as an intermediary, on third party web sites through its “AdSense for Search” platform ( “advertising intermediation related to research”). These include websites of online retailers, telecom operators and newspapers. Web sites include a search box that allows users to search for information. Whenever a user performs a search, in addition to search results, contextual ads are also displayed. If he clicks on the ad, Google as the third party receive a commission . “
From this mixture, Google manages to occupy a dominant position on the advertising market intermediaries in Europe (80 % market share in Europe). Through the signing of agreements with direct partners, Google imposes exclusivity rules and display constraints and volume. In this straitjacket, third parties must then obtain the approval of Google to display competing contextual ads.
Google now has eight weeks to respond to the first call, 10 weeks for the second. It was in November 2010 that the European Commission start these procedures, so that’s almost 6 years. These folders are not the only ones on the European offices. Google is also accused of granting preferential treatment to its specialized services, to extract “ Web content from competitors (the” scraping “) “, in addition to distort competition this time on Android system.
Marc Rees
Journalist, editor Law, LCEN, private copying, terrorism, personal data, surveillance, privacy, and all these things …
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