Google Warned: Stop Abusing Dominance Or Else

Google is under investigation by the European Commission over fears the ubiquitous search giant is abusing its market dominance.

On Monday, the Commission identified “concerns where Google business practices may be considered as abuses of dominance.” They fear Google promotes its search services, plagiarises the travel and restaurant reviews of its rivals and holds agreements with websites and software developers that stifles competition in the advertising industry.

The Competition Commissioner of the European Commission, Joaquin Almunia, has given Google “a matter of weeks” to produce “first proposals of remedies to address these point”. 

If Google complies, it’s likely the matters would be resolved through a “commitment decision … instead of having to pursue formal proceedings with a statement of objections and to adopt a decision imposing fines and remedies”.

According to the UK Telegraph, Google disagreed with the Commission’s conclusions but was open to further discussing the matter.