Google’s proposed settlement for the 4-year-old anti-trust investigation over abusing its position regarding searches, has likely received “very very negative” response, leading to European Union re-opening it.
EU’s antitrust chief, Joaquin Almunia, stressing on the negative response received, said that the complainants were unhappy with the proposed settlement and have also come up with new arguments, data and considerations to be analysed.
Google which has a market dominance of 95 percent of the search market in the EU has been alleged that it gives search preference for its services like Google Shopping, YouTube and Maps over rivals. It is also accused of copying content from its competitors, placing restriction on rival advertisements on sites using Google ads and portability of ad campaigns from Google.
When these allegations were brought before the EU’s antitrust agency, Google offered proposals to solve the issue. However, the complainants claim that the proposals are not enough and were not “market-tested.” They have also brought forward fresh complaints and data to prove their case.
Almunia said that the EU is in touch with Google so that the legitimate concerns of the complainants could be settled. Google on the other hand continues to deny the allegations, but however reiterated that it would cooperate with the investigations.
The investigations first began in November 2010 and Almunia is keen that a solution is reached before the end of his tenure on October 31.
