ISLAMABAD: The European Commission (EU) has opened a fresh inquiry into Google after receiving complaints that the US tech giant is unfairly downgrading certain news websites by labelling them as spam in its search results.
At the centre of the case are media outlets that publish material from commercial partners, such as sponsored articles, which the EU believes may be treated unfavourably by Google.
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This marks another clash between Google and the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), the law designed to keep major online platforms in check across the 27-nation bloc. Only in September, Google’s parent company Alphabet was hit with a €2.95 billion ($3.4 billion) penalty following a previous DMA-related investigation.
The latest probe was announced even as US President Donald Trump warned he would consider sanctions against countries scrutinising American tech firms.
What are both sides saying?
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the Commission suspects that Google’s rules may prevent news organisations from receiving fair and equal treatment in search rankings.
“We want to make sure news publishers aren’t being deprived of vital revenue at a time when the media sector is already under pressure,” Ribera added. Brussels aims to wrap up the investigation within a year.
Under the DMA, the Commission can levy fines of up to 10% of a company’s global revenue, and up to 20% in cases of repeated violations.
Google Dismisses EU Probe as Misguided
Google has pushed back against the European Union’s latest competition inquiry, warning that the move could ultimately weaken the quality of online search results. Dismissing the allegations, Google insisting it has done nothing wrong and defending its measures to filter out spam.
In a blog post, Google Search’s chief scientist Pandu Nayak warned that the inquiry could “reward bad actors and reduce the overall quality of search results.”
Pandu Nayak, Google Search’s chief scientist, said in a blog post that the Commission’s decision to scrutinise the company’s anti-spam measures is “misguided” and could end up hurting “millions of European users.”
He argued that the case lacks substance, noting that a German court recently threw out a similar complaint, upholding Google’s spam-prevention rules as “valid, reasonable, and consistently applied.”
According to Nayak, Google’s anti-spam framework is essential to ensuring fair competition, preventing manipulative websites from gaming the system and overshadowing those producing genuine, high-quality content.
The EU investigation follows an April complaint by German media firm ActMeraki, which claims Google’s spam policies unfairly punish publishers. Several industry groups including the European Publishers Council, the European Newspaper Publishers Association, and the European Magazine Media Association have echoed these concerns.
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