European Commission Delays Google Antitrust Settlement After Competitors' Complaints - NYTimes.com
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European Commission Delays Google Antitrust Settlement After Competitors’ Complaints
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Joaquín Almunia, the European Union's competition commissioner, is due to leave his post in November after
a five-year term. Olivier Hoslet/European Pressphoto Agency
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BRUSSELS — The European Commission pressed Google for
adjustments to a proposed antitrust settlement on Monday, further
delaying a resolution of the long-running case.
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The formal request was made after complainants “submitted new
arguments and data, some of which should be taken in
consideration,” said Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for Joaquin
Almunía, the European Union’s antitrust chief. “We are now in
contact with Google to see if they are ready to offer solutions,’’ he
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The move had been widely expected after the complainants in the
case, including Microsoft and powerful German publishing groups,
objected to a tentative settlement that Mr. Almunía announced in
February to give competitors more equal status in the results
displayed by Google searches.
Related:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/...r-competitors-complaints/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22%7D&_r=0[9/10/2014 11:30:08 AM]
European Commission Delays Google Antitrust Settlement After Competitors' Complaints - NYTimes.com
Google Is Target of European
Backlash on U.S. Tech Dominance
By DANNY HAKIM
Regulators want Google to change its
algorithm. If Google doesn’t comply, the
settlement it reached with Europe this year
may be voided and it will face antitrust charges.
Mr. Almunía, who is due to leave his post in November after a
five-year term, had telegraphed Monday’s move in weekend
interview on Bloomberg TV, saying some of the complaints from
Google’s competitors had been “very, very negative.”
The latest delay in the Google case, which Mr. Almunía’s office has
been formally pursuing since late 2010, could effectively leave a
resolution to his successor — who has yet to be named but might
be less likely to negotiate as patiently with Google. The company is
among American technology giants like Facebook and Apple that
many Europeans increasingly see as overly powerful and too
cavalier about privacy.
MOST VIEWED
The core of the deal Mr. Almunía announced in February was a
system that would more prominently display competitors’ listings
and results when people conduct searches on Google. But rivals
have blasted the proposal, saying it would do little to help them
compete more effectively in Europe, where Google is the platform
for more than 90 percent of searches in many countries.
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In a blog post on Saturday, Eric E. Schmidt, the executive
chairman of Google, suggested that his company’s power over
Internet searches had been exaggerated by complainants in the
European case and that the way Google ranked search results was
fair.
“While we’re fortunate to have been very successful in Europe, it’s
not the case that Google is ‘the gateway to the Internet,’ ” Mr.
Schmidt wrote. “Nor is it true to say that we are promoting our
own products at the expense of the competition.”
Thomas Vinje, a lawyer for FairSearch Europe, which represents
rivals to Google, voiced doubt Monday that the search giant would
be willing to compromise further. “Frankly,’’ he said, “we doubt the
willingness of Google to offer any proposal that effectively solves
the serious abuses the Commission has identified.”
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FairSearch Europe’s members include Microsoft, Oracle and the
online travel company TripAdvisor.
Mr. Vinje called for the commission to jettison the planned
settlement and issue formal charges that would enable “Google to
defend itself, but to do so in an open way that enables
complainants to see and address Google’s defenses.”
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Google is seeking to avoid formal charges, which would raise the
chances it will eventually face a finding of wrongdoing that could
hamper its business in Europe. Potentially, the company could risk
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/...r-competitors-complaints/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22%7D&_r=0[9/10/2014 11:30:08 AM]
European Commission Delays Google Antitrust Settlement After Competitors' Complaints - NYTimes.com
a maximum fine of $5 billion — although penalties for antitrust
offenses in Europe have never gone that high.
The decision on Mr. Almunia’s successor is expected to be made
this week by Jean-Claude Juncker, the former prime minister of
Luxembourg who is about to become the next president of the
European Commission – the executive arm of the European Union.
Referring to the European Commission, Google said in an emailed
statement: “We continue to work with the E.C. to resolve the
concerns they have raised.”
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European Commission Delays Google Antitrust Settlement After Competitors' Complaints - NYTimes.com
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http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/...r-competitors-complaints/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A7%22%7D&_r=0[9/10/2014 11:30:08 AM]