European version of FTC accuses Google of abusing its dominant search results
Timur Emek/AP
Though Google didn't receive any major penalties from Washington, the company might have to change its practices in Europe.
Google and its very expensive Washington lobbying efforts may have wiggled away from the Federal Trade Commission's anti-trust investigation without major penalties a week ago, but that doesn't mean the Europeans are going to take it easy on the search giant. The European Commission has not yet finished its parallel anti-trust investigation, but the EU regulator's Competition Commissioner, Joaqiun Almunia, has now said it will force Google to change the way its search results show up in Europe, report The Financial Times's Alex Barker and Richard Waters — a centerpiece of both investigations that the FTC didn't address at all.
"We are still investigating, but my conviction is [Google] are diverting traffic," Almunia said, referencing the charge that Google's search algorithm points to its own products over the competition in fields like travel and local reviews. Those findings suggest that a link to Google+ or Chrome might show up higher, even if it doesn't have the most relevance. "They are monetising this kind of business, the strong position they have in the general search market and this is not only a dominant position, I think – I fear – there is an abuse of this dominant position," he added.