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EC seeks comments on Google search proposals
2013-04-25 16:20:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) The European Commission has published the proposals it received from Google to resolve concerns over possible anti-competitive behaviour in its search and advertising services. The EC is asking for comments from the market before it decides whether to agree to a settlement with Google and make the proposed changes binding on the company. In March, the EC informed Google of four areas where it thought the search giant may be abusing its dominant position. To address these concerns, Google has offered to label promoted links to its own services so that users can distinguish them from other web search results, as well as display links to rival specialised search services. It will also offer all websites the option to opt-out from the use of their content in Google's specialised search services, while ensuring that any opt-out does not affect their rankings in Google's general web search results. Product or local search sites will get the option to mark certain information on their sites for exclusion from Google indexing, and newspaper publishers will also receive a way to control how much of their news is displayed in Google News. In addition, Google agreed to no longer make any agreements with publishers conditional on using online search ads exclusively from Google, nor prevent advertisers from managing campaigns across competing ad platforms. The commitments would cover the European Economic Area for five years. An independent Monitoring Trustee would advise the Commission in overseeing the proper implementation of the commitments. Interested parties can comment on the proposals for one month.
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Category:Telecommunications