jecasc - 9:15 am on Feb 24, 2010 (gmt 0)

First of all: So far it is only an investigation. Which means they are looking into it. Might turn out that Google was perfectly in the right.

However: If you get kicked out of the Google SERPS, get kicked out of Adwords you are pretty much screwed and can close your business. And Google is dominating the European Search Market even more than the US Search market.

For this kind of dominant market position and for this kind of power Google is simply not living up to the accountability and transparency needed. If you get kicked out of the Google SERPS, which often pretty much means you are ruined - a canned automated response refering to some obscure - open to interpretation - guidelines is simply not good enough.

Google also has a history of sudden changes in it's policy. You have a business model that is perfectly legitimate and overnight you get kicked out of the SERPS or out of Adwords because of some sudden policy change: "Sorry we at google choose to no longer do business with you."

Google can rank any site however they see fit and the European Commission doesn't have the authority to say otherwise.

You are wrong on both. Google can't and yes, the European Commission can. If you begin to dominate the market the normal rules of business do no longer apply, and you become subject to anti trust regulations. Which can include measures like "obligation to contract". Which means you can no longer freely choose with whom you do business but have to justify if you decline to do business with someone.

This is about transparency and accountability.

[edited by: jecasc at 9:42 am (utc) on Feb 24, 2010]