Google and EU poised to settle antitrust investigation

24.07.2012
Google and the European Commission appear close to a settlement that would end the Commission's investigation of the American Internet giant for potential violations of European antitrust regulations, according to a Commission spokesman.

"We have reached a good level of understanding on what the possible solutions might be," Antoine Colombani, a Commission spokesman, said in an email.

Google's spokesman in Brussels, Al Verney, said he could add only that Google continues '"to work cooperatively with the Commission."

The Commission began investigating in November 2010 whether Google unfairly used its dominance in search to promote its other products. In May, it Google the option of making a "commitment decision" to change its practices rather than face fines.

Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt in a letter to the Commission earlier this month. The contents of Schmidt's letter remain unknown.

But Schmidt's proposals addressed all of the concerns they had raised with Google, European officials told the Financial Times. The Commission had raised concerns that Google gave its own products, such as Google+, an undue advantage over competitors in search results, that it copied competitors' restaurant reviews for use in its search results and limited advertisers' ability to move their campaigns to rival search engines.