Google chairman Eric Schmidt has submitted a proposal to European regulators in Brussels aimed at avoiding a showdown on the some of the Internet search leader's business practices.
The European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia
began investigating Google in 2010, and in May of this year warned the
company it needed to quickly propose changes to several practices —
notably including the way it promotes its own offerings in search
results — or face possible fines.
"We have made a proposal to address the four areas the European Commission
described as potential concerns," said Al Verney, a Google spokesman in
Brussels. "We continue to work cooperatively with the commission."
Almunia's spokesman, Antoine Columbani, confirmed receiving a letter from Schmidt on Monday, but did not disclose details.
It is not clear what changes Google has offered to make. The four areas the Commission
criticized were: how Google favors its own services in its search
results, how it displays content from other websites, how it manages the
ads appearing next to its search results, and how its actions affect
marketers' ability to buy ads on rival networks.
If
a settlement isn't reached and the European Commission files a case
against Google, it will set the stage for a lengthy process that could
result in the company being fined up to 10 percent of its annual
revenue. In theory that could mean a fine of as much as $3.8 billion,
based on Google's revenue last year.
But
in a shift of tactics from previous commissioners, Almunia said in May
he would prefer to end market abuses as soon as possible, rather than
fine misbehavior retroactively, especially in the Internet industry.
"I
believe that these fast-moving markets would particularly benefit from a
quick resolution of the competition issues identified," he said then.
"Restoring competition swiftly to the benefit of users at an early stage
is always preferable to lengthy proceedings, although these sometimes
become indispensable to competition enforcement."
Microsoft last week lost its final appeal in a decade-long fight against the Commission that cost it well over a billion euros (dollars).
Almunia
said Google "has repeatedly expressed to me its willingness to discuss
any concerns that the commission might have without having to engage in
adversarial proceedings. This is why I am...giving Google an opportunity
to offer remedies to address the concerns we have already identified."
Google also faces antitrust investigations in the United States, South Korea and India.
In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission
is looking into whether the company has been unfairly highlighting its
own services in its influential search results and rigging its
recommendations in a way that drives up online advertising prices.
The
FTC recently signaled it is girding for a potential legal battle by
hiring a prominent trial lawyer, former Justice Department prosecutor
Beth Wilkinson, to assist in its investigation.
Almunia is expected to rule on Google's proposal within several weeks, but no date has yet been set.
_____
AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke contributed to this story from San Francisco.
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