The European Union (EU) launched a new investigation on Thursday, November 13, targeting Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, which is suspected of sanctioning certain information sites in its search engine results, but the American group denied this.
By opening this new investigation, as part of its flagship law regarding digital markets, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EU is showing its determination to regulate tech giants, including American leaders in the sector, despite threats from Donald Trump who criticized the very heavy European fine imposed on Google in early September (2.95 billion euros).
The American group has implemented measures aimed at combating manipulation techniques used by certain sites to improve their rankings in search engine results, and which are considered a form of spam. But the European Commission said there were indications that this would cause Google to downgrade news sites when they include content from commercial partners on their pages. A downgrade like this will penalize the press publishers in question, as it leads to reduced traffic to their sites, and thus lowers their advertising revenue. Brussels therefore decided to open an investigation into possible violations of platforms’ obligations regulated by the DMA.
Protecting the financing of press publishers
Google defended itself vigorously, assuring, in a message published Thursday, that “This new survey risks rewarding criminals and reducing the quality of research results”. The group explains that its anti-spam policy allows it to fight fraudulent sites, which for example sell slimming pills or commit financial fraud, and which distribute links promoting their products on sites with a good reputation, in order to deceive the vigilance of Internet users.
The Californian giant assured that its regulations aim to prevent such practices “through a fair and rigorous process”and considered that, if he left it, it would risk harm “millions of users in Europe”.
On the other hand, for the Commission, Google’s actions could prevent press publishers from working lawfully with partners who wish to promote, for example, coupons or promotional offers.
This investigation is only in its early stages. The Commission hopes to complete it within twelve months. If it is concluded that Alphabet has violated the DMA, it could impose a fine of up to 10% of its global turnover.
The DMA, a symbolic text adopted in 2022, has been implemented in practice since March 2024 in the EU. This aims to end the abuse of dominant positions by technology giants, by requiring large online platforms such as Google to implement stricter rules.
“We will investigate to ensure that news publishers do not lose an important source of income at a difficult time for the sector”said KPPU competition official, Teresa Ribera, quoted in the press release. “The aim is to protect the funding of press publishers, their freedom to operate, and, ultimately, media pluralism and democracy”added his colleague in digital, Henna Virkkunen.
