The letter, organized by one of the original complainants in the case, a British online shopping service called Foundem, asked the European competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, to take a hard line in ongoing negotiations with Google to produce “effective and future-proof” concessions that will protect small European competitors.
The commission, which has expressed concerns about Google’s use of algorithmic standards to rank its own services ahead of those of some competitors, is studying Google’s own proposals to avoid litigation, and may decide soon on whether to settle the matter or initiate a prosecution that could lead to a conviction and big fines.
“We are becoming increasingly concerned that effective and future-proof remedies might not emerge through settlement discussions alone,” the letter signed by the group stated. “In addition to materially degrading the user experience and limiting consumer choice, Google’s search manipulation practices lay waste to entire classes of competitors in every sector where Google chooses to deploy them.”
Neither Google nor Mr. Almunia were immediately available for comment.
Mr. Almunia, a Spanish jurist, asked Google in December to submit its final proposals to settle the case, which began in February 2010 when complaints were filed in Brussels by Foundem; Ciao, a German price comparison site; and Ejustice.fr, a French legal advice site.
The letter was signed by senior executives at six European online businesses: Foundem and Streetmap EU, both in Britain; Twenga, a French-based price comparison site; and Visual Meta, Hot Maps Medien and Euro-Cities, three German online businesses.
Executives at two American Web businesses, Expedia and TripAdvisor, also signed, as well as the directors of three German associations representing the publishers of newspapers, magazines and independent telephone books.
Mr. Almunia has favored negotiated settlements over protracted litigation in his three years as Europe’s top antitrust official. Google has argued that it is impossible to exert monopoly control over the vast online marketplace, and has criticized some of the complainants for belonging to professional groups set up by its an arch-rival, Microsoft.
Microsoft had urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to bring suit against Google over its search engine practices, but the U.S. agency closed its own two-year investigation in January after Google agreed to make voluntary changes to its search practices.
Heiko Hanslik, the president of the VfT German Association of Independent Directory Publishers, said his members worried that European officials would not take a hard line in their negotiations with the U.S. search engine, which has a more than 90 percent share of the European search advertising market. The European probe focuses on complaints that Google favors its own competing services in the placement of search results.
Mr. Hanslik, whose association represents German publishers of online and print directories and telephone books, said a typically relevant Google search — such as for a painter in the town of Saarbrücken — would not turn up one of his member’s directories until the fourth entry in Google’s search results.
“For many of my members, this is an existential question that needs to be addressed,” Mr. Hanslik said. “Google is exploiting its market position here in Europe and many, many online retailers will not be able to survive if this isn’t fixed.”
Mr. Almunia has been characteristically cautious about his negotiations with Google. In February 2011, he met with Eric Schmidt, then the Google chief executive, who asked him to give Google a chance to come forward with its own solutions before Mr. Almunia issued a so-called statement of objections, a legal instrument used by the European Commission to lay out its antitrust case and set the clock running for a response from the company.
Last May, Mr. Almunia asked Google to come forward with suggestions for resolving the conflict. Later that autumn, he said Google’s response had been insufficient and gave the company until the end of January to present remedies.
Google has provided those suggestions, according to one person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly. Mr. Almunia’s staff is currently examining Google’s response, but it is unclear whether the E.U. agency is close to reaching a decision on whether to accept the company’s proposals and settle or proceed with a prosecution.
In their letter, the complainants such as Foundem made it clear that they would prefer Mr. Almunia to issue a statement of objections, and then, with greater leverage under the threat of fines and legal sanctions, enter negotiations with Google.
“We will respectfully withhold judgment on Google’s proposed commitments until we have seen them, but Google’s past behavior suggests that it is unlikely to volunteer effective, future-proof remedies without being formally charged with infringement,” the group wrote in its letter. “Given this, and the fact that Google has exploited every delay to further entrench, extend, and escalate its anti-competitive activities, we urge the Commission to issue the Statement of Objections.”
Mr. Almunia’s decision will have far-reaching consequences for the development of the Continent’s digital economy, said Christoph Fiedler, the managing director for European affairs and media policy at the VDZ German Federation of Magazine Publishers.
“This decision will have critical importance because it will set standards for the digital world,” Mr. Fiedler said.
James Kanter in Brussels contributed reporting.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/technology/european-executives-ask-antitrust-chief-to-be-tough-on-google.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.