The European Commission announced that it accepted the new proposals submitted by Google, which had been accused by its competitors of abuse of power, thus paving the way for an "amicable" settlement of the case that had been under investigation since 2010.
"I believe Google's new proposal, after lengthy and difficult talks, can resolve competition concerns," he said, curbing the Commission's concerns, Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said at a press conference in Brussels.
Noteworthy, in mid-January, Almunia had called on Google to quickly submit new proposals, threatening it with fines that could reach up to 10% of its total turnover, around 4 billion.
The 14 Companies who had appealed against Google will have to make their position known before the Commission makes its final decision on theme.
Companies have accused Google of promoting its own services at the expense of other specialized search engines, for example travel site specialists such as Expedia and lastminute.com.
In its latest proposal, the American company agrees to ensure that when it proposes its own services on its pages, e.g. for restaurants, hotels or consumer products will simultaneously propose the services of three of its competitors that will be selected with objective criteria. Competing services will be clearly presented to them users, in a way similar to how Google presents its own services, the Commission explained.
Indeed, an independent organization will be responsible for verifying that Google is keeping its commitments.
"Without preventing Google from displaying its own services, it will be given the user the ability to choose between competing services that will be presented in a similar way. Users will choose the best alternative, "Mr Almunia said.
Google's proposal only covers the European area and will last for five years. If it is finally accepted, the company will avoid sanctions and fines of several billion dollars that could be imposed on it, and the investigation launched in November of 2010 will close.
In her announcement, Google emphasizes that she hopes to close the issue soon. "We will make significant changes to how Google works in Europe. We work with the European Commission to solve the problems that have been raised, "said Kent Woerker, general manager of the company.
The company also undertakes not to impose exclusive terms on its advertising agreements, which means that advertisers can more easily transfer their activity to other, competitive websites like Yahoo!
News Room «Profit»With information from RES - AMP
