The Open Internet Project, an initiative bringing together some 400 European internet actors, has made a complaint to the European Commission's competition directorate general, accusing Google of new anti-competitive practices and seeking to end its alleged abuse of dominant position, AFP reports. OIP includes media groups including Alex Springer, Lagardere Active and CCM Benchmark, and online publishing association Geste, tour operators, consumer associations and startups from 15 European countries denounce Google's near-monopoly in search and claim it manipulates the results to put its services forward and to degrade those of competitors.
This is the latest of 19 court cases against Google in Brussels. Another competition case is expected to be resolved amicably soon. Competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in February that the remedies proposed by Google were sufficient. OIP disagrees, given its 'defacto monopoly on the search market to grow in adjacent sectors and distorting competition. The OIP is calling for an exhaustive analysis of all of Google's anticopetitive practices, to react to them all and to impose a fine on the company.
