According to a report by the Financial Times today, Brussels is concerned by the visibility of rival ‘vertical search’ services, which may provide more relevant results to users.

Regulatory pressure

The concessions – the details of which are still unclear – mark the first time Google has bowed to regulatory pressure, although rivals still fear Google will get off lightly.
EU competition chief Joaquin Almunia has claimed that a settlement with the Californian company will be more than a simple label change.
He said that there must be a ‘real choice’ for users and Google may be asked to ‘signal the relevant alternative options’ in their results.
A Google spokesman said the company continued ‘to work co-operatively with the European Commission’.

‘Deceptive conduct'

Meanwhile, a group of major technology companies including Microsoft and Nokia have filed an antitrust complaint against Google over its Andriod operating system.
The 17-strong group hope that a campaign against Google will force EU regulators to fine or alter Google’s tactics in the mobile device market.
Business Standard reports that the group, named FairShare, claim the EU should investigate Google’s ‘deceptive conduct to lockout competition’ whereby they use their operating system as a ‘Trojan Horse’ to dominate the mobile market.
A spokesman for Google reiterated that the company continues to to work cooperatively with the EC.