Google, as we’ve recently reported, is a dominant player in search engines across the globe. In fact, out of the top 40 countries using the Web, Google has the first place title in 35. As such, it’s no surprise to hear that Google is facing the same sort of challenges overseas as they do in the United States: namely, cries of foul play from competitors and consumer groups. This time, the issue is being brought to the European Competition Commission.
According to the report on Star Tribune, the current investigation is looking into whether Google may be prompting sites, including competitors, to pay for improved organic search engine ranking. The question here does not have to do with the clearly labeled sponsored ads, which of course Google is pushing in every market they work in. That item is just the one at the top of the list, though. The antitrust investigators have a set of about 120 different questions to answer about Google and its behaviors, including whether Google may be intentionally manipulating results to favor themselves and hurt competitors, whether they have intentionally interfered with groups moving to other regions, and more.
These questions aren’t being asked of Google but of the sites who work with them. The query has been sent out to a large (but undisclosed, as of yet) number of companies, asking them whether their Google organic rankings have ever been increased by advertiser spending, whether Google ever implied it would, and so on. They aren’t exactly just taking the company’s word for it, though, as businesses are told to send any possible supporting documentation. That supporting documentation, however, can include items like “notes taken during telephone calls or meetings.”
We will learn more about the results of this examination come mid-February, when companies taking the questionnaire should have sent in their responses.
