By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Google has proposed fresh changes to its search results in an attempt to fend off growing criticism from rivals, a week before a key meeting that could lead to yet another EU antitrust fine, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The U.S. tech giant has been under pressure after being hit in March with European Union antitrust charges of unfairly favouring its own services such as Google Shopping, Google Hotels and Google Flights over competitors.
The company, owned by Alphabet, will meet its rivals and the European Commission to discuss its proposals during a July 7-8 workshop in Brussels, the document said.
The EU’s landmark Digital Markets Act, under which Google has been charged, sets out a list of dos and don’ts for Big Tech aimed at curbing their power and giving rivals more room to compete and consumers more choice.
Last week, Google offered to create a box at the top of the search page for a so-called vertical search service (VSS) which would contain links to specialised search engines as well as to hotels, airlines, restaurants and transport services.
The latest offer, called Option B, is an alternative to last week’s proposal, according to a Google document sent by the Commission to involved parties and seen by Reuters.
“Under ‘Option B’, whenever a VSS box is shown, Google will also show a box that includes free links to suppliers,” the document said.
The box for suppliers – in essence hotels, restaurants, airlines and travel services – would be below the VSS box, with Google organising the information about the suppliers.
Option B “provides suppliers opportunities while not creating a box that can be characterised as a Google VSS”, the document said.
“We’ve made hundreds of alterations to our products as part of our DMA compliance,” a Google spokesperson said.
“While we strive for compliance, we remain genuinely concerned about some of the real world consequences of the DMA, which are leading to worse online products and experiences for Europeans.”
Google risks a fine as much as 10% of its global annual revenue if found in breach of the DMA.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee. Editing by Ros Russell and Mark Potter)
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