Google claims proposed changes will address search engine competition concerns

In May 2012 the Commission called on Google to put forward proposed amendments to its search practices after taking a preliminary view that the company may have abused its dominant market position in the industry.

Earlier this year the Commission said that Google had proposed that it would "label promoted links to its own specialised search services" to allow users to "distinguish them from natural web search results". In addition, it said it would display links to "three rival specialised search services" in close proximity to those for its own services. The rival links would be displayed in a way that makes them "clearly visible to users".

Website operators would also be free to stop Google referencing their content in its "specialised search services", such as Google Shopping, Google News and Google Hotel Finder. The measure would allow rivals to have their content displayed in normal search results but not in those specialised listings. Newspaper publishers will have the option of selecting which content is displayed in Google News results on a "web page per web page basis", according to the proposals.

Google has also offered to end the practice of obliging publishers to "source online search advertisements exclusively from Google" under the terms of its agreements with those publishers. It will also allow advertisers to link search advertising campaigns deployed on rival platforms with Google's AdWords offering. The Commission said Google has placed contractual restrictions on firms to prevent them doing so.

In a blog post, Google's senior vice president and general counsel Kent Walker said that the company feels it has done "a pretty good job" in addressing the Commission's concerns. Walker said Google had discussed its "innovations" in search with the Commission as part of the regulator's investigation

"Our proposals are meaningful and comprehensive, providing additional choice and information while also leaving room for future innovation," Walker said. "As we’ve always said, we build Google for users, not websites. And we don’t want to hamper the very innovations that people like best about Google’s services. That’s why we focused on addressing the Commission’s specific concerns, and we think we did a pretty good job."

"The Internet is the greatest level playing field ever. More and more, people are voting with their feet (or at least their cursors), getting information from apps, general and specialised search engines, social networks, and a multitude of websites. That free flow of information means that millions of websites (including ours) now compete directly for business, bringing you more information, lower prices, and more choice. We very much appreciate the Commission’s professionalism and integrity throughout this process, and look forward to reaching a sensible solution," he said.

FairSearch, a group that represents Microsoft, Foundem and a number of other of technology firms that have submitted complaints about Google's search practices, previously said that Google's proposals "appear to fall short of ending the preferential treatment at the heart of the Commission’s case based on formal complaints from 17 companies".