Google submits anti-trust settlement proposal to EU Commission

Google has been under the investigative eye of the European Commission for the past couple of years, where it has been threatened with anti-trust action, after claims that Google was using its search engine dominance to push its other products on consumers. Now though, Google has submitted a proposal that could offer a slew of changes that are enough to appease the Commission.

What is contained in the proposal remains to be seen, so presumably until the EUC makes a decision, we won't know the outcome or the contents. However, in the past year or so Google has made substantial efforts to change some of its practices according to the competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, who said (via the Telegraph) last December that the differences between the Commission and Google had been “substantially reduced.”

Of course if Google goes against its recent trend and decides to buck the Commission, it could face legal action. While it no doubt has a big cash stockpile, Google won't want to tempt the wrath of the EU Commission, which has a history of doling out record breaking fines for anti-trust practices.

Some of these practices that Google stands accused of include: manipulating its own services in search results, copying reviews from rivals and preventing advertisers from working with other search engines.

KitGuru Says: What do you guys think of Google? It sometimes gets considered as the base hub of the internet and people rarely consider it as anything but a search engine.  Others would suggest it's hoarding data on all of us and should be watched like a hawk.

Where do your thoughts lie?

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