The EC sent two new statements of objections to Google. The first is a supplement to the original accusations from April 2015 in the comparison shopping market, to which Google replied in September 2015. Further investigation found additional evidence and data that reinforces the Commission's preliminary conclusion that Google has abused its dominant position by systematically favouring its own comparison shopping service in its general search results over those of competitors. The Commission is concerned that users do not necessarily see the most relevant results when searching on Google.
In addition, the Commission rejected Google's argument that comparison shopping services should not be considered in isolation, but together with the services provided by merchant platforms, such as Amazon and eBay. The EC said these are two separate markets. Even if merchant platforms are included in the market affected by Google's practices, comparison shopping services are a significant part of that market and Google's conduct has "weakened or even marginalised" competition from its closest rivals, the Commission said.
The new statement of objections targets anti-competitive practices by Google's AdSense platform. Restrictions on third-party websites, preventing them from displaying search advertisements from Google's competitors, has enabled Google to protect its dominant position in online search advertising and prevented competitors, including other search providers and online advertising platforms, from entering and growing in this commercially important area, the Commission said.
The objections focus specifically on the 'search advertising intermediation' service from AdSense, which provides ads for search services within other websites, such as online retailers, telecoms operators and newspapers. The Commission estimates Google has an around 80 percent share of this market in the EU. A large proportion of Google's revenues from the intermediation stems from agreements with a limited number of large third parties, so-called Direct Partners. The Commission has concerns that these agreements breach EU antitrust rules by imposing conditions such as exclusivity, requiring third parties not to source search ads from Google's competitors; premium placement of a minimum number of Google search ads; and requiring third parties to obtain Google's approval before making any change to the display of competing search ads. The practices are thought to go back as much as 10 years.
Google has ten weeks to respond to the new objections. The Commission noted that, in the context of the antitrust proceedings, Google has recently decided to change the conditions in its AdSense contracts with Direct Partners to give them more freedom to display competing search ads. The Commission plans to monitor these changes in Google's practices to assess how they impact the market.
European Commissioner for competition, Margrethe Verstager said the Commission is still looking at whether Google favoured its own services in other specialised areas, like travel and local search, and it's investigating complaints from news publishers and image providers on how Google uses their content. In addition, the EC is waiting for Google’s reply to the statement of objections on Android, which was issued in April. Google has requested more time for its reply, which is now due in early September.
