EU: Google Antitrust Concessions “Unacceptable” As Second Study Condemns “Rival Links”
European Union competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia announced Friday in a Spanish radio interview that Google’s second round of concessions in its current antitrust settlement proposal were “unacceptable.” The main obstacle to settlement is still Google’s treatment of…
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Canada’s Competition Bureau Escalates Google Antitrust Investigation
Canada’s Competition Bureau (CCB) has indicated that it will proceed with a formal antitrust investigation against Google. The CCB had been engaged in a preliminary inquiry. A new CCB court filing requests a range of documents that will potentially show, according to the CCB, Google’s alleged…
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Sponsored Study Argues Google’s “Rival Links” Don’t Drive Enough CTRs To Rivals
Google’s original antitrust settlement proposal, negotiated with the European Commission, was attacked by Google competitors and critics as being a token concession to competition. Anti-Google lobbying group FairSearch.org sponsored a consumer study that argued Google’s presentation of…
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Google To Get EU “Watchdog” As Part Of Antitrust Settlement
The New York Times is reporting that as part of the anticipated antitrust settlement in Europe Google is likely to be subject to a “watchdog” overseer. This role is explained in a “96-page [job] description” according to the paper: Among the details of the job: The title is…
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Dear Google Rivals: Do These New Proposals Solve Your Antitrust Concerns? Love, The EU
Three years into its investigation of Google over antitrust issues relating to search, the European Union took another step closer toward a likely resolution, asking Google rivals and other third-parties to review a settlement proposal. Notably, the general public wasn’t invited to…
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New “Concessions” From Google Seek To Avoid EU Antitrust Penalties
According to Reuters the European Commission (EC) says Google has submitted a new settlement proposal with “further concessions” in its bid to end the antitrust inquiry against the company. If the parties fail to reach agreement the EC has the ability to fine Google a percentage of its…
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Google Adds Waze Traffic To Maps App, Search To Waze
The first “synergies” from Google’s Waze acquisition are being rolled out to both Google Maps and Waze users. Google announced this morning in a blog post that real-time Waze traffic updates will appear in the Google Maps app (for iOS, Android): Users of Google Maps for Mobile…
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EU Says More Google “Concessions” Needed Before Antitrust Settlement
The vigorous lobbying efforts of Google critics FairSearch.org and Foundem’s SearchNeutrality.org seem to be paying off. Earlier today EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told members of the European Parliament that additional “concessions” would probably be required of…
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Google’s New European “Antitrust” Search Results: Here’s What They’ll Look Like
I’ve found documents associated with the Google-EU settlement proposal that offer mock-ups of how the new, regulated SERPs will look. It’s very interesting and greatly clarifies the settlement terms and how they will be implemented practically. These mockups look quite different (and…
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EU Goes Public With Google Antitrust Proposals, “Market Test” FAQs
The EU released documents this morning that detail Google’s antitrust settlement proposals and explain the Competition Commission’s position on various aspects of the investigation. First here’s what the EU says Google has proposed: Google offers for a period of 5 years to: (i)…
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Compare and Contrast – Google to be forced to change search results in Europe
Following on from the “interesting” conclusions of the FTC report into Google’s alleged abuse of their power, today came a completely contrasting perspective from the EU’s Competition Chief Joaquin Almunia. For those unaware of the FTC case last week – the FTC concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to support complaints made that Google were […]