Google may be promoting its own services like shopping, hotel booking, transport, financial and sports results above those offered by rivals, the European Commission says.
The European Commission has informed Google’s parent company, Alphabet, that the EU’s “preliminary view” is that Google Search treats the company’s own services “more favourably”.
As a result, Google is not providing “transparent, fair and non-discriminatory treatment of third-party services as required by the DMA [the EU’s Digital Markets Act]”, the European Commission says.
Google is also giving its own services “more prominent treatment compared to others by displaying them at the top of Google Search results or on dedicated spaces”.
Google is estimated to hold a 90 percent share of the search market in Europe. That puts it in a powerful position to advertise its other offerings.
These include a platform for booking hotels, financial and sporting results and a shopping comparison site.
Under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the internet giant is supposed to be even handed so that its services are not promoted to the determinant of others.
The European Commission says its findings are “preliminary”, but if confirmed, the EU has the power to force Google to make changes.
Google would be legally obliged to comply.
In response to the preliminary findings by the European Commission, Google accused the EU of “hurting European consumers and businesses”.
“The Commission’s findings require us to make even more changes to how we show certain types of Search results, which would make it harder for people to find what they are looking for and reduce traffic to European businesses. This is, quite simply, misguided”, the company’s Senior Director for Competition, Oliver Bethell, wrote in a blogpost.
The European Commission is also investigating Google’s app store, Google Play which the EU believes may also be in breach of the DMA.
“Under the DMA, app developers that distribute their apps via Google Play should be able, free of charge, to inform customers of alternative cheaper possibilities, to steer them to those offers and to allow them to make purchases.
The Commission preliminarily finds that Alphabet fails to comply with that obligation”, the European Commission warns.
Google warns that if it was forces to make changes to its app store it would risk “exposing people in Europe to more malware and fraud”
“We will keep engaging with the Commission and comply with its rules. But today’s findings now increase the risk of an even worse experience for Europeans”, the company claims.
Google is headquartered in California in the US. It’s European head office is in Dublin.