Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
EU regulators said Thursday they are investigating Google Some content from media publishers is being unfairly demoted in search results under a policy the company says is aimed at tackling scammers.
brussels Proceeded despite risk of President’s wrath donald trumpWho have criticized the digital rules of the group of 27 countries and have vowed to take retaliatory action if this happens. American Tech companies are punished.
Investigation could result in latest billion-euro fine on US digital giant European CommissionWho is the highest antitrust enforcer of the block.
“We are concerned that Google’s policies do not allow news publishers to be treated in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory manner in its search results,” said Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera.
“We will investigate to ensure that news publishers are not losing significant revenue at a difficult time for the industry, and to ensure that Google complies with the Digital Markets Act,” Ribera said, referring to the bloc’s sweeping rulebook designed to prevent tech companies from monopolizing digital markets.
The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said it had received indications that Google was demoting some search results in accordance with its site reputation abuse policy.
But Google said the policy protects European users from “misleading, low-quality content and scams” and the “obscene tactics” used to promote them so they appear in search results.
Google Search chief scientist Pandu Nayak said in a blog post that the company is trying to prevent users from abusing search results by purchasing paid content on a publisher’s website to induce readers to click on low-quality content.
Nayak said that the investigation was misleading and baseless.
“Unfortunately, the investigation announced today of our anti-spam efforts is completely misguided and risks harming millions of European users,” Google Search chief scientist Pandu Nayak said in a blog post.
Nayak said, “If we allow this behavior – letting sites use sketchy tactics to boost their rankings instead of investing in creating high-quality content – it will enable bad actors to displace sites that don’t use those spam tactics, and it will degrade search for everyone.”
But the commission said the policy harms “a common and legitimate way for publishers to monetize their websites and content” and could violate DMA rules, which require digital gatekeepers like Google to treat other businesses fairly.
The European Union angered Trump in September when it fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.5 billion) for violating the 27-nation bloc’s competition rules by favoring its digital advertising services. It was the fourth time Brussels has fined Google billions of euros in an antitrust case, in a broader battle between the EU and Big Tech that dates back to 2017.
The new EU investigation must conclude within 12 months. It could fine Google parent Alphabet 10% or more of annual global revenue. The commission said it may also liquidate and sell parts of its business.