The European Commission opened an investigation into a potential breach of the Digital Markets Act by Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google in demoting media publishers’ content in search results.
The Commission said its monitoring work showed indications that Google, based on its ‘site reputation abuse policy,’ is demoting news media and other publishers’ websites and content in Google search results when those websites include content from commercial partners.
The EU antitrust watchdog noted that, according to Google, this policy aims to tackle practices that are allegedly meant to manipulate ranking in search results.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.
The Commission’s probe focuses specifically on Google’s ‘site reputation abuse policy’ and how that policy applies to publishers. This policy appears to directly impact a common and legitimate way for publishers to monetize their websites and content, the regulator added.
“We are concerned that Google’s policies do not allow news publishers to be treated in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory manner in its search results,” said Teresa Ribera, executive vice-president for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. “We will investigate to ensure that news publishers are not losing out on important revenues at a difficult time for the industry, and to ensure Google complies with the Digital Markets Act.”
The regulator noted that it aims to conclude its investigation within a year of opening the proceedings.
In case of an infringement, the Commission can impose fines up to 10% of the company’s total worldwide turnover, the agency added.
The DMA is a legislation that establishes a set of objective criteria to qualify a large online platform as a “gatekeeper” and ensure that they behave fairly online and leave room for contestability.
In September 2023, the European Commission designated for the first time six gatekeepers — Alphabet, Amazon (AMZN), Apple, Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT) and Chinese tech giant ByteDance (BDNCE) — under the DMA. Certain products provided by these companies come under the DMA and the EU’s Digital Services Act, or DSA — which regulates online intermediaries and platforms that millions of Europeans use every day. The DSA protects consumers and their rights online.