Brussels (dpa) - Internet giant Google is ready to change the way
it displays online search results as part of a settlement with
European Union authorities, the Financial Times reported Saturday.
The settlement would allow Google to avoid a fine, which could
theoretically equal up to 10 percent of its global turnover.
The EU's executive, the European Commission, has been probing
Google practices since November 2010, after competitors - including
Microsoft - complained about the US company's dominance in the
internet search engine market.
Google is now willing to display "prominent links to rival search
engines" in its search results, as well as "clearer signposts for its
own in-house services," the Financial Times wrote, quoting several
people familiar with the proposed settlement.
The agreement would be legally binding for five years, with a
trustee checking that Google is complying, the newspaper said.
Earlier this year, Google had also reached a settlement with US
regulators who had concerns that the company unfairly skewed its
search results. It pledged to change some business practices, but the
agreement with the EU would go further, the Financial Times said.
The complainants in the EU case now have the right to weigh in on
the deal before it is finalized.
But Google also faces headwinds on another front: the
FairSearch.org alliance this week filed a new complaint with the
commission alleging that the company has an "anti-competitive
strategy to dominate the mobile marketplace" with its Android
smartphone operating system.
Google has more than 32,000 employees and annual revenues of
nearly 38 billion dollars.
