"LONDON - Britain's antitrust watchdog on Friday labeled Google a "strategic" player in the online search advertising market, paving the way for regulators to force the company to change its business practices to ensure more competition in that market. The Competition and Markets Authority said its investigation found that the U.S. tech giant has "strategic market status" because it has "substantial and entrenched market power" in general search and search advertising."
"The label doesn't imply any wrongdoing. But the regulator said it means it has the power to consider using "proportionate, targeted" measures to make sure "general search services are open to effective competition" and that consumers and businesses are treated fairly. Online search ads appear alongside results from Google's search engine, usually tagged as "Ad" or "Sponsored" - versus online display ads, which appear on a company's website."
"The watchdog has previously outlined possible remedies, including giving users "choice screens" for rival search services when they use products like the Chrome browser and Android mobile operating system. Another proposal is forcing Google to make search results ranking and presentation fair and non-discriminatory, and give businesses an effective way to complain if they've been treated unfairly."
The Competition and Markets Authority designated Google as having strategic market status in general search and search advertising due to substantial and entrenched market power. Google accounts for more than 90% of the U.K.'s online searches and over 200,000 British businesses rely on Google search ads to reach customers. The designation allows the regulator to consider proportionate, targeted measures to open general search services to effective competition and ensure fair treatment of consumers and businesses. Possible remedies include choice screens on Chrome and Android, enforcing non-discriminatory search ranking and presentation, and creating effective complaint mechanisms. No immediate fixes were announced; discussions will begin later this year.
Read at Newsday
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