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Google offers to label its own properties in searches to settle EU antitrust case

Published Apr 12th, 2013 7:30PM EDT
Google Antitrust Settlement

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To settle charges that it’s artificially boosting its own properties in search results, Google is offering to let consumers know that it’s the company behind Google Shopping. The Guardian reports that Google has made a settlement offer to European antitrust officials in which the company says it will “label results where its own properties, such as YouTube or Google Shopping, appear in listings when people perform searches.” The Guardian notes that this concession is unlikely to satisfy critics who claim that Google is pushing down rivals’ products to promote its own services, since the offer would do nothing to change the rankings in search results. Google skated in a similar investigation in the United States when the Federal Trade Commission found it didn’t violate American antitrust law late last year.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.