EU Says Google Must Do Better or Face Formal Charges Over Antitrust

[engine]

The long running dispute continues to rumble on. Not long ago it appeared there was an agreement, but it seems that the terms of the agreement didn't go far enough.

Google will face formal charges if it fails to come up with a suitable plan to give equal prominence to rival search engines, the EU has warned.

There have so far been three attempts to solve the long-running dispute.

Competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia told a European parliamentary committee that the next logical step would be to issue a statement of objection, including formal charges.EU Says Google Must Do Better or Face Formal Charges Over Antitrust [bbc.co.uk]

"At the beginning of the month I have communicated this to the company asking them to improve these proposals," said Mr Almunia.

"We now need to see if Google can address these issues and allay our concerns."

Earlier

Google's European antitrust settlement is abandoned [webmasterworld.com]

[superclown2]

The last offer by Google - which Almunia initially accepted - was so ludicrous that it was obvious that the people concerned hadn't got a clue about what was happening. It will be interesting to see what transpires now that Germany rules Europe.

[londrum]

the problem with these things, is that they take so long to come to fruition, and google will probably have been overtaken by other companies anyway. they just spend years talking and going round in circles

[engine]

I really don't believe the EU fully understands everything that's going on with this antitrust probe. That being the case, how can they come to a satisfactory conclusion!

[superclown2]

A recent comment by Eric Schmidt:

"New businesses promoting new ideas should not be held back by bureaucratic or regulatory hurdles."

In other words, the laws shouldn't apply to us. Not much chance of compromising with a company with an attitude like that.